Four Vampire Templates

[Phantasm]

Just looking for some feedback and template-checking for a few types of vampires for my homebrew fantasy setting.

I admit to being influenced by several books, television shows, and movies. Buffy/Angel, Bram Stoker's novel and the many movies based off it, Subspecies and its sequels, the Blade trilogy, a few independent films... I've avoided Anne Rice and her ilk because I don't go for the needless angst (she was better when she was writing Sleeping Beauty bondage porn, IMO).

Vampire (Fledgling)
47 points

These vampires are recently created vampires, less than a century old. These vampires are still learning the full extent of their abilities, and are the most likely to accidentally kill their prey when feeding. They have not yet learned to control their thirst; many are still coming to terms with their condition.

Fledglings are often under the direct control of the vampires, experienced or master, that created them. While all vampires have the ability to create more of their kind, fledglings are usually forbidden from doing so by their creators.

Fledgling vampires have many weaknesses. They cast no reflection, enabling anyone with a mirror to determine their nature. They incinerate in sunlight, recoil in terror when confronted with religious symbols, and are susceptible to damage from touching religious symbols, holy water, fire, wood, and silver. They turn to dust if stabbed through the heart with a silvered weapon or a wooden stake. They are required to sleep during the daylight hours, and cannot be roused for any reason until sunset.

Shapeshifting is beyond the scope of a fledgling vampire, although many of them are able to take the form of a fog or mist even when severely wounded.

Attribute Adjustments: ST +5 [50].
Secondary Characteristic Adjustments: Will -2 [-10].
Advantages: Acute Vision 4 [8]; Alternate Form (Body of Air) [15]; Clinging [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Discriminatory Hearing [15]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Discriminatory Taste [10]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Dominance [20]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20]; Mind Control (Puppet, -40%; Vision-Based, -20%) [20]; Night Vision 8 [8]; Patron (Individual, twice the points; 9 or less) [15]; Regeneration (Fast: 1 HP/min) [50]; Regrowth [40]; Super Climbing 1 [3]; Super Jump 1 [10]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Vampiric Bite (1 HP/sec) [30].
Disadvantages: Dependency (Blood; Very common; Daily; Aging, +30%; Illegal) [-39]; Draining (Sunrise; Requires Blood, Common; Illegal) [-10]; Dread (Religious Symbols, Occasional) [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; Frightens Animals [-10]; Lifebane [-10]; Nocturnal [-20]; Social Stigma (Undead) [-20]; Supernatural Features (No Body Heat; No Reflection; Pallor) [-25]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Blood; 6 or less) [-30]; Vulnerability to Silver (Occasional, ×3 damage) [-30]; Vulnerability to Wood (Common, ×4 damage) [-60]; Weakness to Holy Symbols (1d burn per 30 minutes; Rare) [-3]; Weakness to Holy Water (1d cor per 5 minutes; Occasional) [-10]; Weakness to Sunlight (1d burn per minute; Very Common) [-60].
Features: Sterile; Turns To Dust When Killed; Will become an Experienced Vampire.

Edit: Made some adjustments eliminating the Unkillable + Fragile (Unnatural) paradox, as well as adding in Unaging. I also adjusted the Holy Water and added Holy Symbols to the list of items that can harm them. (1d per 30 minutes should be enough to have minor burns from the contact.)

[Phantasm]

Vampire (Experienced)
342 points

These vampires are those who have survived for more than a century. They are experienced in protecting themselves from mortals who would wish to destroy them. Most experienced vampires are able to pass for human when needed.

Experienced vampires have some control over their nature. They regain their reflection, enabling them to re-enter society almost undetected. They are able to take the form of a large bat, a wolf, a large owl, or a horde of rats. They are also better able to withstand the presence of religious symbols, although they do take some burning damage from touching them. Silver also no longer has as serious an effect on the vampire, although wooden weapons still do. These vampires also no longer turn to dust when staked. These vampires still incinerate when exposed to sunlight, although they are able to maintain a "normal" life during the day provided they stay away from natural light.

Attribute Adjustments: ST +10 [100].
Advantages: Acute Vision 4 [8]; Alternate Forms (Body of Air; Large Bat; Large Owl; Swarm of Rats; Wolf) [75]; Clinging [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Dark Vision [25]; Discriminatory Hearing [15]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Discriminatory Taste [10]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Dominance [20]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20]; Mind Control (Puppet, -40%; Vision-Based, -20%) [20]; Regeneration (Fast: 1 HP/min) [50]; Regrowth [40]; Super Climbing 1 [3]; Super Jump 2 [20]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unkillable (Achilles' Heel: Wood or Silver. -30%; Hindrance, Wood or Silver in Heart, -15%) [55]; Vampiric Bite (1 HP/sec) [30].
Perks: Deep Sleeper [1].
Disadvantages: Dependency (Blood; Very common; Daily; Aging, +30%; Illegal) [-39]; Draining (Sunrise; Requires Blood, Common; Illegal) [-10]; Dread (Religious Symbols) [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Frightens Animals [-10]; Lifebane [-10]; Social Stigma (Undead) [-20]; Supernatural Features (No Body Heat, Can Gain Warmth Temporarily; Pallor, Can Regain the Flush of Life Temporarily) [-6]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Blood; 9 or less) [-22]; Vulnerability to Silver (Occasional, ×2 damage) [-20]; Vulnerability to Wood (Common, ×3 damage) [-60]; Weakness to Holy Symbols (1d burn per 30 minutes; Rare) [-3]; Weakness to Holy Water (1d cor per 5 minutes; Occasional) [-10]; Weakness to Sunlight (1d per minute; Very Common) [-60].
Features: Sterile; Will become a Master Vampire.

Edit: Made some adjustments eliminating the Unkillable + Fragile (Unnatural) paradox, as well as adding in Unaging. I also adjusted the Holy Water and added Holy Symbols to the list of items that can harm them. (1d per 30 minutes should be enough to have minor burns from the contact.)

[Phantasm]

Vampire (Master)
774 points
A master vampire, also known as a vampire lord, is easily several hundred years old, often approaching a thousand or more. They have survived through cunning and will. Their powers have grown, and they often have several minions, vampire and otherwise, who they rely on and who rely on them.

While the fledgling vampire has many weaknesses, the master vampire has very few. A master vampire can even venture into the daylight without harm, although doing so will severely weaken him. Silvered weapons have no effect on them, nor do wooden weapons; the only exception is when a wooden stake is driven through the heart. Master vampires have mastered their fear of religious symbols, and no longer burn when touching them. The only sure way to kill a master vampire is to drive a stake through the heart, cut off the head, and burn the body and head in separate locations, scattering the ashes. Unless these precautions are followed, a master vampire will rise again.

Attribute Adjustments: ST +15 [150]; IQ +3 [60].
Secondary Characteristic Adjustments: Will +3 [15]; Per +3 [15].
Advantages: Acute Hearing 1 [2]; Acute Taste and Smell 1 [2]; Acute Vision 5 [10]; Alternate Forms (Body of Air; Large Bat; Large Owl; Swarm of Rats; Wolf) [75]; Clinging [25]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Dark Vision [25]; Discriminatory Hearing [15]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Discriminatory Taste [10]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Dominance [20]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20]; Mind Control (Puppet, -40%; Vision-Based, -20%) [20]; Regeneration (Very Fast: 1 HP/sec) [100]; Regrowth [40]; Super Climbing 2 [6]; Super Jump 2 [20]; Supernatural Durability [150]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unkillable 2 (Achilles' Heel: Wood, Occasional, -30%; Hindrance, Occasional, -15% ) [55]; Vampiric Bite (1 HP/sec) [30].
Disadvantages: Dependency (Blood; Very common; Daily; Aging, +30%; Illegal) [-39]; Draining (Sunrise; Requires Blood, Common; Illegal) [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Lifebane [-10]; Social Stigma (Undead) [-20]; Supernatural Features (No Body Heat, Can Gain Warmth Temporarily; Pallor, Can Regain the Flush of Life Temporarily) [-6]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Blood; 12 or less) [-15].
Features: Sterile.

Edit: Replaced High Pain Threshold with Supernatural Durability, and removed Fragile (Unnatural). Also removed the Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities until I figure out what aspects get weakened when the vampire ventures out into sunlight. If I go with my Stoker influences, I may have the Alternate Forms negated and ST reduced to 15 or 20 during the day. Thoughts?

[Phantasm]

Vampire (Savage)
40 points
These vampires are little more than wild animals, hunting and killing indiscriminately and calling attention to their kind. While they often hunt alone, occasionally an entire "pack" of savage vampires appear to terrorize a larger territory.

A vampire may become a savage in several ways. First, any vampire who is starved for long periods of time may fight a losing battle to maintain control. If a vampire is starved for more than a week, make weekly Will rolls. Each successive failure adds a -1 to the roll; on a critical failure, the vampire has lost his humanity completely and becomes a merciless killing machine.

The second way to make a savage vampire is when something goes wrong with the conversion. Interruption of the conversion for more than a day may lead to the resultant vampire being savage, as will attempted turnings by more than one vampire in the same time frame.

While a savage vampire is capable of turning the people they bite into vampires, most will simply kill their victims for their blood; savage vampires simply lack the patience for conversion.

Attribute Adjustments: ST +10 [100]; IQ -3 [-60].
Secondary Characteristic Adjustments: Per +6 [30].
Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell 3 [6]; Acute Vision 4 [8]; Catfall [10]; Claws (Talons) [8]; Clinging [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Discriminatory Hearing [15]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20]; Night Vision 8 [8]; Regeneration (Fast: 1 HP/min) [50]; Regrowth [40]; Super Climbing 3 [9]; Super Jump 1 [10]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unkillable 1 (Achilles' Heel: Wood, Common, -50%; Achilles' Heel: Silver, Occasional, -30%) [10]; Vampiric Bite 1 [30].
Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Dependency (Blood, Very Common, Daily; Aging, +30%; Illegal) [-39]; Draining (Sunrise; Requires Blood, Common) [-5]; Dread (Religious Symbols) [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; Frightens Animals [-10]; Lifebane [-10]; Nocturnal [-20]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Supernatural Features (No Body Heat, No Reflection, Pallor) [-25]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Blood; 6 or less) [-30]; Vulnerability to Holy Water (Rare; ×2 damage) [-10]; Vulnerability to Silver (Occasional, ×3 damage) [-30]; Vulnerability to Wood (Common, ×4 damage) [-60]; Weakness to Sunlight (1d per minute; Very Common) [-60].
Features: Fixed IQ; Sterile; Turns To Dust When Killed.

[naloth]

I'll bite ;)

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

<snip>
Vampire (Fledgling)
<snip>
Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20];
Unkillable 1 (Achilles' Heel: Silver, Occasional, -30%; Achilles' Heel: Wood, Very Common, -50%) [10]
Fragile (Unnatural) [-50];

I wouldn't allow an Occassional to stack onto a Very Common. I would use the greater of the two (only). Unkillable 1 (passes all HT checks, only dies at -HPx5) shouldn't go with Fragile (dies on any failed life check) unless Fragile only applies to attacks that Unkillable doesn't. Try Fragile (Only vs Silver, Wood -50%) which decreases the value of the limitation with the same limitation value as Unkillable.

EDIT: Also, if it's attacks that only go through the heart it's an almost negligible limitation neither "occasional" or "very common".

Nocturnal [-20];

This is a very serious disad - like for Gargoyles that petrify during the day.

Social Stigma (Dead) [-20];

Monster or Undead is worth -20. Just being legally dead certainly isn't.

Vulnerability to Holy Water (Rare; ×2 damage) [-10]

This would work better as a weakness or weakness + vuln. Holy Water doesn't normally do damage so multiplying it is rather pointless.

[transmetahuman]

Originally Posted by naloth

Monster or Undead is worth -20. Just being legally dead certainly isn't.

It's canonical - Fantasy p. 133. Either you're visibly not living, or your death is on record and your heirs own all your worldly goods.

[naloth]

Originally Posted by transmetahuman

It's canonical - Fantasy p. 133. Either you're visibly not living, or your death is on record and your heirs own all your worldly goods.

I was wrong on the name, but the effect is pretty much the same. You're a non-entity with absolutely no rights and it's obvious that you don't get rights or a monster.

It's much worse than just being officially declared dead which what I was thinking. That doesn't cause your everyone you meet to react at -4.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by naloth

It's much worse than just being officially declared dead which what I was thinking. That doesn't cause your everyone you meet to react at -4.

Yeah... the idea [of SS:Dead] seems to have a pretty narrow applicability.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by naloth

I'll bite ;)

Thanks. These were actually done some time ago, perhaps 2 to 3 years ago by the date on the file, and I haven't actually gone through and double-checked my math.

re: Fledgeling Vampire's Injury Tolerance, Unkillable, and Fragile:

Originally Posted by naloth

I wouldn't allow an Occassional to stack onto a Very Common. I would use the greater of the two (only). Unkillable 1 (passes all HT checks, only dies at -HPx5) shouldn't go with Fragile (dies on any failed life check) unless Fragile only applies to attacks that Unkillable doesn't. Try Fragile (Only vs Silver, Wood -50%) which decreases the value of the limitation with the same limitation value as Unkillable.

EDIT: Also, if it's attacks that only go through the heart it's an almost negligible limitation neither "occasional" or "very common".

I think I'll have to rethink the approach. I want a stake to the heart, silver or wood, to turn them to dust almost immediately, insta-kill. I also want them to take extra damage from silver and wood, but reduced damage from nearly everything else.

Now that I'm thinking about it, Supernatural Durability might be a better fit than the kludge of Injury Tolerance (Unliving) + Unkillable 1 + Fragile (Unnatural). Thoughts on that?

re: Nocturnal:

Originally Posted by naloth

This is a very serious disad - like for Gargoyles that petrify during the day.

I know. These vampires MUST sleep during the day, and are most vulnerable then as they cannot be roused for any reason. A vampire hunter could easily kick the door down and slaughter an entire nest of them without waking up a single one.

re: Social Stigma (Dead):

Originally Posted by naloth

Monster or Undead is worth -20. Just being legally dead certainly isn't.

Duly noted.

re: Vulnerability (Holy Water):

Originally Posted by naloth

This would work better as a weakness or weakness + vuln. Holy Water doesn't normally do damage so multiplying it is rather pointless.

Thanks. When I made this, I was still unsure of the actual relationships between Weakness, Vulnerability, and Susceptibility.

[RedMattis]

Your templates lack Unaging [15p].
Since all of them have the aging enhancement of the dependency disadvantages you should probably add Unaging (Age Control, +20%) [18p], otherwise they will probably all end up looking VERY old after awhile, even with the normal 15p unaging.