Vampire Hero

[SleepyDrug]

I don't know what happened to the Vampire:tM to Hero Conversion thread. But I wanted to thank the two individuals who had previously done conversions. They are a very good source.

I am working on my own conversion, drawing upon what I like out of each separate conversion, and I had a question on undead toughness.

Each had 50% Damage Reduction only vs stun

one choose to add, Damage Resistance up to half pd/ed
the other used, Does Not Bleed from the automaton rules

Why not just use straight 50% Damage Reduction; not vs aggravted damage??

In most novels and material, vampires are vulnerable to all weaponry but much less so then a mortal. I think the straight Damage Reduction would simulate this well.

Thoughts??

[Robert Harrison]

Well, in my case (50% Resistant Damage Reduction, Stun Only, + Damage Resistance up to half PD/ED), I was trying to reproduce the damage-absorbing properties of WoD vampires.

In V:tM (revised edition), vampires can soak lethal damage with a Stamina roll. This means that tough vampires (with high Stamina) can absorb more lethal damage than wimpy, low-Stamina vampires. I reproduced this with Damage Resistance up to half of the vampire's PD and ED. Since PD and ED are derived from STR and CON, tough vamps end up being able to absorb more lethal damage than wimpy vamps. The 50% Damage Reduction just reproduces the vampire's ability to stay up after getting hit with lots of lethal attacks.

It certainly would be simpler to just use straight Resistant Damage Reduction, but then the wimpiest Toreador would be able to absorb as much lethal damage as the toughest Brujah (excluding contributions from Fortitude).

I look forward to seeing your conversion some day.

[SleepyDrug]

Well, much of it is borrowed from the work you and others have done here. But I am putting in a few things of my own, such as working out the Merits and Flaws.

[Agent333]

Originally posted by SleepyDrug

Each had 50% Damage Reduction only vs stun

one choose to add, Damage Resistance up to half pd/ed
the other used, Does Not Bleed from the automaton rules

Why not just use straight 50% Damage Reduction; not vs aggravted damage??

In most novels and material, vampires are vulnerable to all weaponry but much less so then a mortal. I think the straight Damage Reduction would simulate this well.

Thoughts??

Well, my conversion might be because I based it on the GURPS version of V:tM. In thier rules the vamps were less likely to be stunned, but just as vulnerable to damage as the next character without Fortitude. My group has played it this way for so long it just never occured to me to change it. In my experience, the ability to almost instantly heal with blood was good enough for beginning vampires. And since a lot of handguns and melee weapons a human was likely to use fall into the 1D6 Killing attack range, a mere 3 levels of Fortitude was enough to basically bounce bullts and catch a sword with a bare hand. Personally, I'd rather beginnig vampires (and therefore: players) were a little cautious around mundane weapons being used on them. It may not cost you life to get hit, but it sure as heck costs you blood and you may need that later.

Also remember that White Wolf doesn't really have a STUN damage system, it's rolled up into the regular damage. So, in WW, if you reduced the Stun of an attack, you'd also reduce the BODY. Your use of full DR will simulate that well, but my POV is that the Stun damage is really what's ruduced, not the Body. In play we found that even with Stun only DR, that STUN is as valuable as gold. Even a 10 Recovery won't save you if you take a full burst from a 9mm SMG. Players could get thier BODY back easily enough, but STUN was much more crucial to survival.

It's unlikely I'll change that, but so what. You and Robert might NEED tougher vamps than mine. Especially if you're going to run into Werewolves (shudder to think) or Superheroes. Robert's version works best if you start bringing in anything else from Hero games, he's simulated the vamp powers like true powers you'd write for a Champions game. My version is very insular and used only for my game at home. They're full of house rules to keep the costs down so that my players wouldn't pay more than 20-25 points to reach the next Discipline level. My vampires were meant for my game. Roberts vamps, though more expensive can travel anywhere.

Thanks for the compliments, SleepDrug. Good luck with your own version. V:tM using the Hero system is a lot of fun and the possibilities truly are limitless, while also being fair and balanced (mostly)