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<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 7947321" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17531/Van-Richtens-Monster-Hunters-Compendium-Vol-1-2e?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium Vol. 1</a></p><p>2e</p><p><strong>Vampire:</strong> From still another place, called Oerth, a man has told me of a family curse that causes the firstborn male in every twelfth generation to rise after death to drink the blood of the family unless the body is burned at burial.</p><p>How did vampirism begin? If new vampires are spawned by other vampires, as virtually all tales would have us believe, how then was the first vampire created? These questions have plagued sages as long as the undead monsters themselves have plagued mankind. Perhaps the answer lies in Barovia.</p><p>According to most tales, a vampire can create another simply by killing a mortal either with its life-energy draining power or by exhausting the mortal of his or her blood supply. If the victim's body is not properly destroyed, it arises as a vampire, under the control of the creature who killed it, on the second night after burial.</p><p>This method is, thankfully, exceptionally rare. The saliva of certain vampires contains various necrological substances. First among these is a slow-acting but highly lethal poison. A single bite from a vampire can inject enough toxin to kill a robust warrior. Unlike most poisons, however, this toxin does not kill the subject for several days. Few people make the connection between the vampire bite and the victim's collapse, hence the body is quite likely to be buried improperly. Meanwhile within the dead body of the victim, other necrological agents from the vampire's saliva are having their effect. Several nights after the victim's death, he or she comes to consciousness as a vampire.</p><p>A character bitten by this type of vampire is entitled to a saving throw vs. poison. It is best if the DM makes this roll secretly, If the save is successful, the victim suffers only 2d4 points of damage; should this be enough to kill the victim on the spot, he or she won't rise as a vampire. If the character fails the save, 2d4 days later he or she will suffer sudden heart failure and drop instantly and painlessly dead. Within 1d4 days of burial the character will rise as a Fledgling vampire. under the control of its killer.</p><p>Some vampires have the ability to cast a special version of the unique priest spell, divine curse, once per day at most (DM's choice). The effects of this curse are always the same. Should the victim fail a saving throw vs. spell, every time the sun rises thereafter he or she loses 1 point of Strength. When the victim reaches 0 Strength, he or she dies and will rise as a vampire under the control of the monster who cast the curse.</p><p>Some of the monsters also have the dread ability to impart vampirism via a curse. With their voice and their gaze they are able to afflict a victim with a terrible wasting disease that drains the body's strength. After a number of days, the victim dies and then rises as a vampire the second night after burial. The only means of saving the victim known to me is to destroy the cursing vampire before the victim Finally</p><p>succumbs. Of course, the body can be destroyed to prevent it from rising, but this is obviously too late to help the victim. In general, any victim brought to death by any draining effects of a vampire, but not by normal combat or spell damage, is a candidate to become undead.</p><p>Where does this symbolic equivalency arise from? Some sages believe that it is a jest of the ancient and evil deities who originally set vampires loose upon the worlds of the universe. Others hold that a parallel arises from the very nature of reality; in other words, we know that evil preys upon good, and vampires vindicate this axiom on the supernatural level.</p><p>A young, naive man, raised in a sheltered and privileged family, was slain by a vampire passing through the neighborhood.</p><p>An intrepid vampire hunter was slain by one of the creatures she so tenaciously hunted: her colleagues immediately destroyed the monster that killed her. For whatever reason, these colleagues neglected to take the precautions to prevent the woman from rising as a vampire.</p><p>A man of good alignment was killed by a vampire, and became a vampire himself under the control of his dark master.</p><p><strong>Baron Metus:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Erasmus Van Richten, Vampire:</strong> The Baron was a vampire, and he had passed on that dark gift to my only son!</p><p><strong>Krynn Sea Elf Vampire:</strong> I have recorded tales of a place called Krynn, and a race of sea elves who claim that if one of their race is buried on land, it will rise from the dead to seek vengeance on its brothers by drinking their blood.</p><p><strong>Strahd von Zarovich, Vampire:</strong> The gift-or curse-of immortality was not thrust upon Strahd von Zarovich, Lord of Barovia, by another vampire; rather, he stole it from the lips of death. I quote the following text from the diary of the bard Gregorri Kolyan, who supposedly was captured by Strahd only to be released sometime later with the complete story of the creature. I do not know why Strahd allowed Gregorri to leave with this vital information. Perhaps the vampire felt a need to have his story told after years of exile and secrecy.</p><p>By Strahd’s account, the battle was fierce and will make for a great song, should I live to compose it. Both men were excellent swordsmen-Strahd from his years as a general and the officer from his constant training. Yet Strahd’s madness gave him the edge, and he finally struck down the officer . . . but not before he himself had taken a wound that would have slain a lesser man instantly.</p><p>Strahd von Zarovich was as good as dead. In his mind he knew that, but his hatred and rage would not allow his failing body peace. As the lifeblood poured from his body, Strahd made a pact with Death. He reached over, grabbed the dead guardsman, and drank the blood of the corpse.</p><p>Strahd would now live free from Death forever; cheating that dark and shadowy figure! But the pact required another act to be complete. He would have to kill his brother Sergei on his wedding day to finally seal the wicked contract.</p><p>Strahd hid the guard’s body, awaiting Sergei’s wedding day. As the time passed, Strahd found his charade more and more difficult to maintain. The daylight hours were becoming increasingly uncomfortable and the naked rays of the sun physically painful to his eyes and skin. He also found it difficult to eat food, which hardly satisfied his hunger. The transformation to whatever creature Death had in mind for him was beginning.</p><p>On the day of the wedding Strahd sought out Sergei and instigated a fight, intending in this way to give himself some justification for killing the young man. Strahd expected his young and fit brother to be a challenge to defeat, but quickly found that his physical strength had increased far beyond its previous limit. With but a single, cruel blow Strahd felled his brother and his pact with Death was complete. Strahd von Zarovich had become a vampire.</p><p><strong>Dwarven Vampire:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Mature Vampire:</strong> 100 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Old Vampire:</strong> 200 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Very Old Vampire:</strong> 300 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Ancient Vampire:</strong> 400 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Eminent Vampire:</strong> 500 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Patriarch Vampire:</strong> 1,000 years as a vampire.</p><p><strong>Jarmin, Vampire:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Batlas, Vampire:</strong> The thick mist appeared without warning, seeming to rise from the ground like a foul exhalation. At first we paid it little mind; at night, ground fogs are fairly common. But then we noticed how the fog was moving, swirling toward us even though there was no wind to drive it. What could we do? How can you fight a fog?</p><p>It was then that the leading tendril wrapped itself around Batlas, our scout. Poor Batlas screamed, screamed as though his soul was being torn from his mortal body. And then he collapsed lifeless into the mire.</p><p>Little did we think we would ever see Batlas again. . . .</p><p><strong>Zombie:</strong> I once faced a flesh golem who had the ability to animate any corpse it touched. The creature seemed to revel in animating the freshly killed bodies of its foes, and I remember with great sadness having to strike down the animated body of one of my companions in the very same battle in which he was killed. The animated corpses were not golems, of course, but some sort of lesser undead creatures.</p><p><strong>Ghast:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Skeleton:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Vampire Bride/Groom:</strong> Creating a bride or groom, although seemingly a simple process, requires an exhausting exercise of much power by the creating vampire. For this reason, only vampires of advanced age and capability can even assay this procedure. A bride or groom can be created only by a vampire of age category Ancient or greater, and not even all of those are capable of doing so.</p><p>The first step requires that the vampire find an appropriate mortal to be the bride. (Note: With apologies to the feminine gender, I shall use the term “bride” and the pronouns “she” and “her” to refer to both brides and grooms, Unless otherwise specified, there are no restrictions or differences in the procedure based on the sex of either the vampire or the victim.) usually this problem solves itself. Very rare is the vampire who decides in isolation, “I will make a bride,” and then seeks out a mortal to fill the bill. In the vast majority of cases, the process occurs in the reverse order. The vampire is drawn emotionally to the mortal and decides, because of the strength of this emotion, to make her his bride.</p><p>The nature of this emotion can vary widely. It may simply be hormonal lust (after all, the physiological systems related to such effects in mortals are still present, and sometimes still functional, in vampires). It may be an obsession dating from the days before the vampire became what he now is, as is the case with Strahd von Zarovich's obsession with women who resemble his lost Tatyana. In these cases, the vampire creates its bride in cold blood, for the sole purpose of satisfying its own desires.</p><p>Sometimes, however, the emotion may be close to what mortals classify as love. The happiness of the vampire becomes tied up with the prospective bride, and its well-being depends on hers. In these cases, the vampire might actually believe it is bestowing a gift when it turns the mortal into its bride—the gift of freedom from aging and death.</p><p>To actually create the bride, the vampire bestows what is known as the “Dark Kiss.” It samples the blood of its mortal paramour—once, twice, thrice—draining her almost to the point of death. This process causes the subject no pain; in fact it has been described as the most euphoric, ecstatic experience, in comparison to which all other pleasures fade into insignificance. Just as the subject is about to slip into the terminal coma from which there is no awakening, the vampire opens a gash in its own flesh—often in its own throat, wrist, or chest (being near the heart)--and holds the subject's mouth to the wound. As the burning draught that is the vampire's blood gushes into the subject's mouth, the primitive feeding instinct is triggered, and she drinks hungrily at the wound, enraptured. With the first taste of the blood, the subject is possessed of great and frenzied strength (Strength 18, if the character's isn't already higher), and will use it to prevent the vampire from separating her from the fountain of wonder that is the bleeding wound. It is at this point that the creator-vampire’s strength is most sorely tested. He is weakened by his own blood loss, and also by his own rapture as the “victim” of a dark kiss. Overcoming the sudden loss of strength and the inclinations of lust, the vampire must pull her away from its own wound, hopefully without harming her, before she has overfed. Should the subject be allowed to feed for too long (more than 2 rounds), she is driven totally and incurably insane, and will die in agony within 24 hours.</p><p>Once the subject has stopped feeding, she falls into a coma that lasts minutes or hours (2d12 turns), at the end of which time she dies. Several (1d3) hours later, she arises as a Fledgling vampire and her creator's bride.</p><p>The actual process of creating a bride inflicts some limited damage on the vampire. Even the small amount of blood the bride drinks weakens it for some time.</p><p>“Donating” blood to the prospective bride or groom inflicts 2d8 hit points of damage on the creating vampire. This damage—and only this damage—does not begin to regenerate until the first sunset after the bride is created.</p><p><strong>Countess Abalia, Vampire:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Vampire Nosferatu:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Ghost Wailing Spirit:</strong> ?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 7947321, member: 2209"] [URL=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17531/Van-Richtens-Monster-Hunters-Compendium-Vol-1-2e?affiliate_id=17596]Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium Vol. 1[/URL] 2e [b]Vampire:[/b] From still another place, called Oerth, a man has told me of a family curse that causes the firstborn male in every twelfth generation to rise after death to drink the blood of the family unless the body is burned at burial. How did vampirism begin? If new vampires are spawned by other vampires, as virtually all tales would have us believe, how then was the first vampire created? These questions have plagued sages as long as the undead monsters themselves have plagued mankind. Perhaps the answer lies in Barovia. According to most tales, a vampire can create another simply by killing a mortal either with its life-energy draining power or by exhausting the mortal of his or her blood supply. If the victim's body is not properly destroyed, it arises as a vampire, under the control of the creature who killed it, on the second night after burial. This method is, thankfully, exceptionally rare. The saliva of certain vampires contains various necrological substances. First among these is a slow-acting but highly lethal poison. A single bite from a vampire can inject enough toxin to kill a robust warrior. Unlike most poisons, however, this toxin does not kill the subject for several days. Few people make the connection between the vampire bite and the victim's collapse, hence the body is quite likely to be buried improperly. Meanwhile within the dead body of the victim, other necrological agents from the vampire's saliva are having their effect. Several nights after the victim's death, he or she comes to consciousness as a vampire. A character bitten by this type of vampire is entitled to a saving throw vs. poison. It is best if the DM makes this roll secretly, If the save is successful, the victim suffers only 2d4 points of damage; should this be enough to kill the victim on the spot, he or she won't rise as a vampire. If the character fails the save, 2d4 days later he or she will suffer sudden heart failure and drop instantly and painlessly dead. Within 1d4 days of burial the character will rise as a Fledgling vampire. under the control of its killer. Some vampires have the ability to cast a special version of the unique priest spell, divine curse, once per day at most (DM's choice). The effects of this curse are always the same. Should the victim fail a saving throw vs. spell, every time the sun rises thereafter he or she loses 1 point of Strength. When the victim reaches 0 Strength, he or she dies and will rise as a vampire under the control of the monster who cast the curse. Some of the monsters also have the dread ability to impart vampirism via a curse. With their voice and their gaze they are able to afflict a victim with a terrible wasting disease that drains the body's strength. After a number of days, the victim dies and then rises as a vampire the second night after burial. The only means of saving the victim known to me is to destroy the cursing vampire before the victim Finally succumbs. Of course, the body can be destroyed to prevent it from rising, but this is obviously too late to help the victim. In general, any victim brought to death by any draining effects of a vampire, but not by normal combat or spell damage, is a candidate to become undead. Where does this symbolic equivalency arise from? Some sages believe that it is a jest of the ancient and evil deities who originally set vampires loose upon the worlds of the universe. Others hold that a parallel arises from the very nature of reality; in other words, we know that evil preys upon good, and vampires vindicate this axiom on the supernatural level. A young, naive man, raised in a sheltered and privileged family, was slain by a vampire passing through the neighborhood. An intrepid vampire hunter was slain by one of the creatures she so tenaciously hunted: her colleagues immediately destroyed the monster that killed her. For whatever reason, these colleagues neglected to take the precautions to prevent the woman from rising as a vampire. A man of good alignment was killed by a vampire, and became a vampire himself under the control of his dark master. [b]Baron Metus:[/b] ? [b]Erasmus Van Richten, Vampire:[/b] The Baron was a vampire, and he had passed on that dark gift to my only son! [b]Krynn Sea Elf Vampire:[/b] I have recorded tales of a place called Krynn, and a race of sea elves who claim that if one of their race is buried on land, it will rise from the dead to seek vengeance on its brothers by drinking their blood. [b]Strahd von Zarovich, Vampire:[/b] The gift-or curse-of immortality was not thrust upon Strahd von Zarovich, Lord of Barovia, by another vampire; rather, he stole it from the lips of death. I quote the following text from the diary of the bard Gregorri Kolyan, who supposedly was captured by Strahd only to be released sometime later with the complete story of the creature. I do not know why Strahd allowed Gregorri to leave with this vital information. Perhaps the vampire felt a need to have his story told after years of exile and secrecy. By Strahd’s account, the battle was fierce and will make for a great song, should I live to compose it. Both men were excellent swordsmen-Strahd from his years as a general and the officer from his constant training. Yet Strahd’s madness gave him the edge, and he finally struck down the officer . . . but not before he himself had taken a wound that would have slain a lesser man instantly. Strahd von Zarovich was as good as dead. In his mind he knew that, but his hatred and rage would not allow his failing body peace. As the lifeblood poured from his body, Strahd made a pact with Death. He reached over, grabbed the dead guardsman, and drank the blood of the corpse. Strahd would now live free from Death forever; cheating that dark and shadowy figure! But the pact required another act to be complete. He would have to kill his brother Sergei on his wedding day to finally seal the wicked contract. Strahd hid the guard’s body, awaiting Sergei’s wedding day. As the time passed, Strahd found his charade more and more difficult to maintain. The daylight hours were becoming increasingly uncomfortable and the naked rays of the sun physically painful to his eyes and skin. He also found it difficult to eat food, which hardly satisfied his hunger. The transformation to whatever creature Death had in mind for him was beginning. On the day of the wedding Strahd sought out Sergei and instigated a fight, intending in this way to give himself some justification for killing the young man. Strahd expected his young and fit brother to be a challenge to defeat, but quickly found that his physical strength had increased far beyond its previous limit. With but a single, cruel blow Strahd felled his brother and his pact with Death was complete. Strahd von Zarovich had become a vampire. [b]Dwarven Vampire:[/b] ? [b]Mature Vampire:[/b] 100 years as a vampire. [b]Old Vampire:[/b] 200 years as a vampire. [b]Very Old Vampire:[/b] 300 years as a vampire. [b]Ancient Vampire:[/b] 400 years as a vampire. [b]Eminent Vampire:[/b] 500 years as a vampire. [b]Patriarch Vampire:[/b] 1,000 years as a vampire. [b]Jarmin, Vampire:[/b] ? [b]Batlas, Vampire:[/b] The thick mist appeared without warning, seeming to rise from the ground like a foul exhalation. At first we paid it little mind; at night, ground fogs are fairly common. But then we noticed how the fog was moving, swirling toward us even though there was no wind to drive it. What could we do? How can you fight a fog? It was then that the leading tendril wrapped itself around Batlas, our scout. Poor Batlas screamed, screamed as though his soul was being torn from his mortal body. And then he collapsed lifeless into the mire. Little did we think we would ever see Batlas again. . . . [b]Zombie:[/b] I once faced a flesh golem who had the ability to animate any corpse it touched. The creature seemed to revel in animating the freshly killed bodies of its foes, and I remember with great sadness having to strike down the animated body of one of my companions in the very same battle in which he was killed. The animated corpses were not golems, of course, but some sort of lesser undead creatures. [b]Ghast:[/b] ? [b]Skeleton:[/b] ? [b]Vampire Bride/Groom:[/b] Creating a bride or groom, although seemingly a simple process, requires an exhausting exercise of much power by the creating vampire. For this reason, only vampires of advanced age and capability can even assay this procedure. A bride or groom can be created only by a vampire of age category Ancient or greater, and not even all of those are capable of doing so. The first step requires that the vampire find an appropriate mortal to be the bride. (Note: With apologies to the feminine gender, I shall use the term “bride” and the pronouns “she” and “her” to refer to both brides and grooms, Unless otherwise specified, there are no restrictions or differences in the procedure based on the sex of either the vampire or the victim.) usually this problem solves itself. Very rare is the vampire who decides in isolation, “I will make a bride,” and then seeks out a mortal to fill the bill. In the vast majority of cases, the process occurs in the reverse order. The vampire is drawn emotionally to the mortal and decides, because of the strength of this emotion, to make her his bride. The nature of this emotion can vary widely. It may simply be hormonal lust (after all, the physiological systems related to such effects in mortals are still present, and sometimes still functional, in vampires). It may be an obsession dating from the days before the vampire became what he now is, as is the case with Strahd von Zarovich's obsession with women who resemble his lost Tatyana. In these cases, the vampire creates its bride in cold blood, for the sole purpose of satisfying its own desires. Sometimes, however, the emotion may be close to what mortals classify as love. The happiness of the vampire becomes tied up with the prospective bride, and its well-being depends on hers. In these cases, the vampire might actually believe it is bestowing a gift when it turns the mortal into its bride—the gift of freedom from aging and death. To actually create the bride, the vampire bestows what is known as the “Dark Kiss.” It samples the blood of its mortal paramour—once, twice, thrice—draining her almost to the point of death. This process causes the subject no pain; in fact it has been described as the most euphoric, ecstatic experience, in comparison to which all other pleasures fade into insignificance. Just as the subject is about to slip into the terminal coma from which there is no awakening, the vampire opens a gash in its own flesh—often in its own throat, wrist, or chest (being near the heart)--and holds the subject's mouth to the wound. As the burning draught that is the vampire's blood gushes into the subject's mouth, the primitive feeding instinct is triggered, and she drinks hungrily at the wound, enraptured. With the first taste of the blood, the subject is possessed of great and frenzied strength (Strength 18, if the character's isn't already higher), and will use it to prevent the vampire from separating her from the fountain of wonder that is the bleeding wound. It is at this point that the creator-vampire’s strength is most sorely tested. He is weakened by his own blood loss, and also by his own rapture as the “victim” of a dark kiss. Overcoming the sudden loss of strength and the inclinations of lust, the vampire must pull her away from its own wound, hopefully without harming her, before she has overfed. Should the subject be allowed to feed for too long (more than 2 rounds), she is driven totally and incurably insane, and will die in agony within 24 hours. Once the subject has stopped feeding, she falls into a coma that lasts minutes or hours (2d12 turns), at the end of which time she dies. Several (1d3) hours later, she arises as a Fledgling vampire and her creator's bride. The actual process of creating a bride inflicts some limited damage on the vampire. Even the small amount of blood the bride drinks weakens it for some time. “Donating” blood to the prospective bride or groom inflicts 2d8 hit points of damage on the creating vampire. This damage—and only this damage—does not begin to regenerate until the first sunset after the bride is created. [b]Countess Abalia, Vampire:[/b] ? [b]Vampire Nosferatu:[/b] ? [b]Ghost Wailing Spirit:[/b] ? [/QUOTE]
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