Modeling Blinding Speed

[AlexanderHowl]

In many horror movies, vampires are represented as giving the illusion that they, and their allies, are so fast that it is difficult or impossible to see them moving, so I was going to present one possible build for that effect.

Blinding Speed [30/level]: Basic Speed +1.00 [20] plus Obscure 1 (Vision; Area Effect, 16 yards, +150%; Defensive, +50%; Extended, Infravision, Ultravision, +40%; Reflexive, +40%; Selective Area, +20%; Stealthy, +100%) [10]. Notes: Every level of Blinding Speed automatically inflicts a -1 vision penalty on anyone attempting to detect or attack the character as long as they move a minimum of one yard per turn. It also increases the Basic Speed of the character by +1.00 per level.

A young vampire might only have a couple of levels of Blinding Speed while an ancient vampire could have up to ten levels of Blinding Speed, making them practically impossible to visually detect or attack while they are moving. In the case of an elder vampire, the only way for someone to hit them is by ambushing them or otherwise negating their movement. While vampires may choose to extend their protection to their allies, they may exclude their enemies from their protection without difficulty.

What do you think? Do you think that the ability is legal by RAW? Do you think that it accurately represents the phenomena that I am talking about? Would you use it for the vampires in your games?

[Refplace]

My frst thought was "Wow thats expensive!"
But its really not, though Pyramid #3/89 (p. 23) has a Flash Step power with -60% on Basic Move for Step length only which would save you points.

I think the Obscure should make it harder to parry incoming attacks which definitely justifies the points spent on it. I think Ill take it for my Vampires :)

[CeeDub]

I think I might model it as Invisibility, Linked to Enhanced Move (Ground) with Cosmic: Second Nature and/or Linked to Altered Time Rate.

If it is to apply to their allies as well, the area effect of the Obscure build makes more sense, but I can't think of any examples in fiction where a vampire's blinding speed rubs off on anyone, unless they are carried by the vampire. Which work(s) are you thinking of?

[Seneschal]

I'm guessing modern vamp TV shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, where such a power is the consequence of TV frugality - it's just a really cheap effect to make. It also benefits from TV playing fast and loose with internal consistency - vamps move fast when fighting, but seldom display the mental speed and reflexes necessary to do anything at such a speed in other, more mundane situations. I don't ever recall Stefan Salvatore tidying up his room like the Flash using vamp-speed.

I'm not sure Obscure is necessary for this to be "blinding"; that famous table on B550 is called the "Speed/Range Table" for a reason. A vamp moving at 100 y/s because of his Enhanced Move (Ground) would be at -10 to hit in close range, since his speed trumps range penalties. You could apply the same penalty to Perception checks to spot him.

[CeeDub]

Yes, TV writers aren't known for consistency. But I think the origin of this is just the element of horror that comes from running away from an undead predator... only to have him suddenly standing right in front of you. The super-speed itself is just a hand-wave to explain this.

Most vampire-themed roleplaying games handwave this inconsistency by having the use of super-speed cost blood points or fatigue or even humanity.

In that sense, I would probably apply Limited Use and/or Costs Fatigue to either build.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Seneschal

I'm guessing modern vamp TV shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, where such a power is the consequence of TV frugality - it's just a really cheap effect to make. It also benefits from TV playing fast and loose with internal consistency - vamps move fast when fighting, but seldom display the mental speed and reflexes necessary to do anything at such a speed in other, more mundane situations. I don't ever recall Stefan Salvatore tidying up his room like the Flash using vamp-speed.

I'm not sure Obscure is necessary for this to be "blinding"; that famous table on B550 is called the "Speed/Range Table" for a reason. A vamp moving at 100 y/s because of his Enhanced Move (Ground) would be at -10 to hit in close range, since his speed trumps range penalties. You could apply the same penalty to Perception checks to spot him.

Interview with a Vampire had vampires being able to move too fast for human perception as one of their powers. It's used right at the beginning of the novel as a demonstration to prove that the vampire (Louis?) is really what he claims to be.

Aside from being unable to escape a threat because you're too slow being a thing in horror, I think it arises from writers and people in general being unaware of just how fast something human sized would have to move (and accelerated and de-accelerate) to be able to appear to teleport like that, and the side effects of such movement (due to the displacement of all that air, for example).

As for dealing with it, piano wire strung in a nice taut mesh across entrances has always been a good start. The faster they move, the bigger the mess.

[AlexanderHowl]

Speed/Range penalties only applies to ranged attacks, melee attacks are not effected by the speed of the target as long as it is within reach when you attack (Speed/Range is not listed under applicable melee combat modifiers in Campaigns, p. 547). Visibility modifiers, such as those caused by Obscure, apply to both melee attacks and ranged attacks.

Concerning Invisibility, you could have the following build to replace Obscure: Invisibility (Accessibility, Only while moving, -10%; Affects Machines, +50%; Can Carry Objects, Heavy, +100%; Extended, Infravision, Ultravision, +40%; Reflexive, +40%; Switchable, +10%) [132]. The Reflexive and the Switchable enhancement gives you control over your Invisibility while moving, otherwise you quite obviously disappear everytime you step, which means that everyone would know you were supernatural from the first time you moved. It is more expensive than the Obscure part of Blinding Speed though.

[Refplace]

Selective Effect I think was on thier to cover the Vampire only, I;d add a limitation maybe -20% for self only in answer to the above.

[Culture20]

Ye olde Warp with the “must travel distance” along with a limitation reducing maximum range to realistic distance... The creature moved too fast to register, even in its own perception.