Designing Vampires

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Weakening can be done by buying up attributes with an Accessibility limitation.
You could also go with Phobia for holy symbols and garlic

For repulsion from holy symbols, the go-to is Dread (B132). For the invitation it's Divine Curse (Cannot enter a private dwelling unless invited) [-5]. (From Monster Hunters)

[Michael Thayne]

I like PK's treatment in Monster Hunters 3 a lot. Unambiguously evil, weaknesses that are meaningful (vampires walking around in sunlight annoy me) without making them too easy to defeat. Of course, part of this reflects my taste for high-powered gaming. I probably wouldn't use that specific version in a campaign that wasn't semi-superheroic.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

For repulsion from holy symbols, the go-to is Dread (B132). For the invitation it's Divine Curse (Cannot enter a private dwelling unless invited) [-5]. (From Monster Hunters)

I know but the poster I was responding to wanted something a little less all or nothing.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Railstar

How do you represent these effects in GURPS? I love them, would definitely use them, but find it very finicky to create the effect I am going for on a template. Revulsion, for instance, lasts several minutes after exposure and can be ignored with a HT roll, which is too “all or nothing” for me.

"weakened in sunlight or when confronted with a holy symbol" is an accessibility limitation on levels of ST and DX in this case. I may include include speed and move as well, and sometimes perception.

For holy symbols, I'd use dread with cannot be trapped. For sunlight, I'd probably go for a mild mental disadvantage. Probably compulsive sunlight avoidance [-5]. They can be in the sun, its just uncomfortable.

[AlexanderHowl]

Another possibility would be to them abilities with Accessibility, Only at night, -20%. In the case of a lot of folklore vampires, they hide during the days because their abilities only work at night. In more modern urban fantasy novels, aversions to sunlight range from Heliophobia (12-) [-15] to Weakness (Sunlight; 1d per minute) [-60].

What about Regeneration? A large number of modern urban fantasy vampires possess Regeneration ranging from Slow to Very Fast, along with extreme durability. A vampire with DR 10 (Tough Skin, -40%) [30], Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20], Regeneration (Very Fast) [150], and Unkillable 1 [50] would be a flipping nightmare to kill.

[Flyndaran]

I've been considering an Alternate Form with reduced greatly reduced power and vulnerability. It takes a while to change, so one could still take them out when they're not prepared.
Properly paranoid powerful individuals may simply avoid ever using it just to interact with mortals in the daytime. But it partly goes to explain how they can hide in settings where many know about the undead.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I've been considering an Alternate Form with reduced greatly reduced power and vulnerability. It takes a while to change, so one could still take them out when they're not prepared.
Properly paranoid powerful individuals may simply avoid ever using it just to interact with mortals in the daytime. But it partly goes to explain how they can hide in settings where many know about the undead.

That makes me think of the Van Helsing movie with the automatic crossbow and explosives. The vampires it shows certainly have alternate forms, and are more powerful in them.

[Phantasm]

I prefer vampires that are apex predators. Whether this means upper-class rich vamps (ala Carmilla, Dracula, and modern jet-set vamps) or bad boy biker vamps (ala Lost Boys) depends on campaign. But vampires that are tortured souls (ala Anne Rice, Vampire Diaries) or worse *sparkle* in sunlight (*stakes every Twilight fan out there*)... No. Just... No.

[AlexanderHowl]

A lot of vampires in modern urban fantasy have a 'game face', which could be considered an Alternate Form (Reduced Time 3, +60%; Reflexive, +40%) [30], allowing the vampire to change forms as a free action (Powers, p. 74). While it is an expensive ability, a 150 point vampire template could spread a lot of abilities throughout the two forms.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Blood Types is a 3e product and many of the traits, such as Invulnerability, no loner exist in 4e. In addition, it is a GURPS spin on vampires that the GURPS editors liked in the mid-90s, so it is a terribly dated sourcebook, since it is nearly a quarter century old (it would lack examples from the urban fantasy series published since 1994, such as the Dresden Files, the Southern Vampire Mysteries, the Jane Yellowrock series, etc, basically ninety percent of the urban fantasy published in existence was published since 1995). It is also not what I asked, as I asked everyone's favorite type of fictional vampire and how they would represent them in GURPS.

The vampire in Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974) is a personal favorite as it harkens back to the actual myths.

It drains age (ie life force), casts a reflection, is only vulnerable to iron and is active in daylight. I am not entirely sure on how to model it in 4e as I would have to go back and watch the movie for the details.

I agree regarding the age of Blood Types and cross referenced it with Theresa Bane's 2010 Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology. on the vampirewiki

The book needs a serious update to bring it in line with 4e and take advantage of works like Theresa Bane's Encyclopedia.