Vampire perks

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Bicorn

How do you determine when you're again eligible for the extra point, though?

What, if anything, limits vampire feeding in the setting?

Just off the top of my head, I'll suggest having to wait until the victim has healed from previous vampire-inflicted injury. (That is, measured in days, depending on setting TL and medical skill. And I do mean to imply any other vampire, if for no other reason than to make the vamps a little territorial. But it would probably still work if it were just the one specific vampire.) If there's magical healing in the setting, you might decide that such simply can't heal vamp injuries -- natural healing only -- or maybe you're fine with the vamps recruiting a willing -- or unwilling -- healer to keep the process rolling.

If you like the "sample a variety" notion, add the constraint that the vamp must have fed from at least one other victim in the meantime. Just for color, really; nothing would stop one from arranging a sufficiently big party for the vamp to be satiated. But then, encouraging that sort of response would be the point of the constraint. The limit is largely "soft", extra time and trouble and effort in a narrative sense, rather than a hard mechanic.

[Varyon]

Regarding Blood Connoisseur, a Perk may actually be justifiable with it as-written in the first post. Vampiric Bite normally drains 3 HP for every 1 HP restored, this basically changes that to 2 HP for every 1 HP restored (because every 2 HP is treated as though it were 3). Making Vampiric Bite more efficient via Accelerated Healing is +25% and makes it drain 1 HP for every 1 HP restored. +25% on [30] is [+7.5], but Blood Connoisseur's rate is between normal and Accelerated Healing, so it's probably worth somewhere around [3]. If applying the guidelines from Reputation, a small group (which seems appropriate for the examples provided) would be 1/3 cost... for [1].

The fact Blood Connoisseur would work for someone who already had Accelerated Healing, and also would work for Vampiric Bites with a boosted drain rate, does make it a bit on the powerful side, but I don't think so much that it would be particularly unbalanced.

[jason taylor]

Limited Immunity:

The weaknesses of ORDINARY vampires are reduced. Instead of being killed by a stake it has to be an aspen stake, instead of being frightened by a cross it is frightened only by an icon which was kept in the Hagia Sophia, and plundered in the Conquest and you have to actually go on a quest to find it.

Quirk: victims can only be healed by-some esoteric method.

Unusual Background: colorful and bloodthirsty warlord (Ungern-Sternbeck is pretty obviously a vampire, everyone knows it)

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Limited Immunity:

The weaknesses of ORDINARY vampires are reduced. Instead of being killed by a stake it has to be an aspen stake, instead of being frightened by a cross it is frightened only by an icon which was kept in the Hagia Sophia, and plundered in the Conquest and you have to actually go on a quest to find it.

Requiring a stake be made of a particular (but common) type of wood is probably acceptable as a Perk, but requiring a rare artifact for a cross is too powerful.

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Quirk: victims can only be healed by-some esoteric method.

This is the Cosmic, Unhealing Damage +100% Enhancement. Granted, that should only be applied to part of the cost of Vampiric Bite - as it's [+5] per +1 damage, that seems like the only bit that should get the Enhancement, so [+5] for every point of damage this applies to in each attack should work. That said, that's going to be inconvenient to the vampire if they want to prey on the same targets multiple times, and may also make them a bit easier to track down - treating it like Trademark, Simple [-5] might be appropriate, which could arguably make it a Feature if it only applies to one point of damage per attack. I'd be willing to err on the side of Perk.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Varyon

This is the Cosmic, Unhealing Damage +100% Enhancement. Granted, that should only be applied to part of the cost of Vampiric Bite - as it's [+5] per +1 damage, that seems like the only bit that should get the Enhancement, so [+5] for every point of damage this applies to in each attack should work. That said, that's going to be inconvenient to the vampire if they want to prey on the same targets multiple times, and may also make them a bit easier to track down - treating it like Trademark, Simple [-5] might be appropriate, which could arguably make it a Feature if it only applies to one point of damage per attack. I'd be willing to err on the side of Perk.

Actually what I was thinking was it would increase the difficulty of rescueing captive minions. Perhaps the vampire can have that as an optional enhancement for those he wants to enslave. Suppose a normal bite can be made without applying it but if he wishes in his malicious to have a slave to vampiric torment he will want to make sure she can't be rescued.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Bicorn

That sounds workable. How do you determine when you're again eligible for the extra point, though? Once per day, once per day per victim, once per specific victim ever...?

My swiped and modified version of this perk nerfs it by adding a "use it or lose it" clause, maximum levels and specified time intervals.

* The extra energy lasts for just 8 hours (or until the next sunrise, whichever is less).

* You can only benefit from one extra point of energy at a time regardless of the number preferred victims you feed from.

* You can claim just 1 point of extra energy from this perk per night.

That said, it wouldn't be unreasonable to make it a leveled perk so you can benefit from multiple victims and gain 2+ points in a given night.

I wouldn't limit the perk based on victims' healing rates. Vampire-type powers are all about the vampire, the blood-bags they feed from are just an afterthought.

OTOH, a quirk that you don't get energy from Vampiric Bite, or get less energy, if you feed on badly injured or dying victims is legitimate, as are variants of Blood Connoisseur that only apply if you can feed from extremely healthy victims with HT 12+, Fit or better Fitness and at least 80% of their original HP.

Edit: Another way to rein in this Perk is to rule that you lose the extra FP gained from your preferred sort of victim if you mingle their blood with non-preferred victims. E.g., if your preferred prey is natural redheads, you can get extra FP from multiple victims, as long as you just feast on ginger-haired folks. One victim with a dye job and you lose all that yummy precious extra vitae.

[Bicorn]

Oh, didn't notice this thread had gotten more comments!

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Edit: Another way to rein in this Perk is to rule that you lose the extra FP gained from your preferred sort of victim if you mingle their blood with non-preferred victims. E.g., if your preferred prey is natural redheads, you can get extra FP from multiple victims, as long as you just feast on ginger-haired folks. One victim with a dye job and you lose all that yummy precious extra vitae.

Hmm, it's an interesting idea but I feel it would work better paired with some other bonus; retroactively losing earlier gained points can get complicated and increases the need for bookkeeping.


Also, I thought of a couple of new ones. Comments/critique/suggestions for changes?


Blood Diagnosis

You're able to "taste" ailments in blood; after consuming at least one point of blood from a subject you can make a Diagnosis roll to determine their general state of health and what specific physical illnesses they may have. What kind of information you can get is limited by your understanding of pathology and the body, so you can only get information that normal medical examination at your home TL could reveal.


Subjugating Bite

After feeding, your victim's rolls to resist your attempts to dominate or control them - e.g. with influence skills, Hypnosis, psychic powers, mind-affecting spells etc. - are at -1. This penalty lasts for 6 hours times the amount of hp you consumed from them. Additional feedings only extend the duration and do not give a cumulative penalty.

[KarlKost]

Blood Rush
After feeding, your skin will flush and your pale complexion will vanish. Your skin will also feel warm to the touch.

This lasts for 1 hour per HP drained

[coronatiger]

Originally Posted by Bicorn

Blood Connoisseur (type)
Your vampiric ability is 50% more efficient when used on a specific sort of victim; i.e. each two points drained from the right kind of victim counts as three. The chosen type should be moderately uncommon among potential targets; e.g. "redheads", "adult female virgins" or "clinically insane people".
(This one might be too strong. Suggestions for toning it down?)

How about:
Seeker of Unfamiliar Blood
The first time you feed on a new, consenting victim, you gain 50% more points from it.

[Bicorn]

Originally Posted by coronatiger

How about:
Seeker of Unfamiliar Blood
The first time you feed on a new, consenting victim, you gain 50% more points from it.

Ooh, I like that. There's an interesting tension there - it being a one-time deal creates the temptation to take as much as you can but then you'll risk killing a willing donor, who tend to be in a short supply.