Vampires in Supers Setting

[Vestnik]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

She looks pretty badass to me if she has a glass of blood handy.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Here's the Mist Form I've been working on - Sorry for the delay, but my new schedule is 2 weeks on, 1 week off, so only been able to do it in drips and drabs..

 

The Mist form has been kinda problematical for me - Originally I thought I'd use X-Dimensional travel to inhabit someones body, then Transform to slowly corrupt them - Making it take a long time (1d6/hour or so) would be cinematically cool, allowing the hero's time to try and force the vampire out..

 

Then I remembered that this is a hero, and using xdim movement and transform in that way would be kinda cheezy.. So if this WERE a villian, I'd do it the first way and damn the cheeziness for the drama of it. Instead, the transform works first, and once complete the mist form moves into the persons soul.. The transformed person has all of his memories and powers, but is completely controlled by the Vampire.

 

The mist form is... well, weak and powerfull at the same time. His Desolid gives him pretty near full invulnerability on one hand, but amazingly weak if someone uses Holy/Faith powers against him - I was worried about it at first, then realized that cinematically it's spot on. Of course he's weak on attack powers - this form is for escape/infiltration with a couple of goodies and schticks thrown in for flavor.

 

All in all, though, I'm not sure if I understand one part of Multipower forms - Say I buy a 200 point form... Is that 200 points before or after disadvantages? (For example, can I pay for a 200 point form and have him 300 points + 100 in disadvantages?) I'm thinking it's before disads, but I dunno.

 

Okay, here he is -

 

 

 

Player:

 

Val Char Cost

0 STR -10

10 DEX 0

15 CON 10

15 BODY 10

13 INT 3

20 EGO 20

23 PRE 3

10 COM 0

 

10 PD 10

10 ED 7

4 SPD 20

3 REC 0

30 END 0

33 STUN 10

 

0" RUN -12

0" SWIM -2

0" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 69

 

Cost Power

21 Body Of Mist Powers: Elemental Control, 42-point powers

 

29 1) Body Of Mist: Desolidification (affected by Holy/Faith SFX), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (80 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2), Always On (-1/2)

 

15 2) Invisible Wind: Flight 12", Position Shift, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (43 Active Points); Only In Contact With A Surface (-1/4), no Noncombat movement (-1/4)

 

6 3) Summon Fog: Change Environment 1" radius, -3 to Sight Group PER Rolls, -2 to Hearing Group PER Rolls, Multiple Combat Effects, MegaScale (1" = 1 km; +1/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (44 Active Points); Extra Time (20 Minutes, -2 1/2)

 

4 Hard To Kill: Damage Resistance (4 PD/4 ED)

 

10 Body Of Mist II: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing)

6 Creature Of The Night: Mental Defense (10 points total)

5 Creature Of The Night: +10 PRE (10 Active Points); Only For Defense (-1)

 

15 Possession Powers: Elemental Control, 30-point powers

 

16 1) Riding The Pallbearer: Extra-Dimensional Movement (Related Group of Dimensions, Single Location (Peoples Souls)), Trigger (When Person Is Transformed Into Pallbearer) (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; +1/4) (31 Active Points)

 

16 2) Create The Pallbearer: Major Transform 2d6 (Humans Into Pallbearers, Exorcism, Being Made To Drink Holy Water), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Based On EGO Combat Value (Standard Defenses apply; +1) (67 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Stops Working If Mentalist Is Stunned (-1/2), Pallbearer Healed If Vampire Switches Targets (-1/2), Pallbearer Healed If Vampire Leaves Body (-1/2), Visible (Mist Pouring Into PallBearers Mouth) (-1/4)

Powers Cost: 143

 

 

Cost Skill

2 Mimicry 12- (3 Active Points); Only In Fog (-1/4)

3 Shadowing 12-

2 Ventriloquism 12- (3 Active Points); Only In Fog (-1/4)

4 +2 ECV with Create The Pallbearer

7 +3 With Voices In The Fog I & II, Shadowing (9 Active Points); Only In Fog (-1/4)

Skills Cost: 18

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 230

 

Pts. Disadvantage

15 Physical Limitation: Can Only Cross Water On Bridges/Tunnels (Infrequently, Fully Impairing)

30 Susceptibility: Sunlight 2d6 damage per Phase (Very Common)

25 Physical Limitation: No Manipulative Limbs (All the Time, Fully Impairing)

15 Distinctive Features: Looks Like Creeping Fog (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

 

Disadvantage Points: 85

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

=============================

 

Feedback is, of course, appreciated...

 

-CraterMaker

[Matt the Bruins]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Tell that to the X-Men, when they faced off against Dracula he curb stomped them and only Nightcrawler's faith enabled him to save the day. Dracula nearly killed Dr. Strange as well. 'Tis a silly super who underestimates the vampire.

To be fair, for all his supernatural power Dr. Strange has the proportionate strength and speed of... a middle-aged neurosurgeon. He's been nearly killed by a knife thrown by a disgruntled Roman Catholic cardinal as well.

[Twilight]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

To be fair' date=' for all his supernatural power Dr. Strange has the proportionate strength and speed of... a middle-aged neurosurgeon. He's been nearly killed by a knife thrown by a disgruntled Roman Catholic cardinal as well.[/quote']

 

True. However as I read the summary of the story, Dracula didn't overwhelm Strange physically but used his hypnosis to gain the advantage. Gotta belive Doc is tougher mentally then he is physically.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

True. However as I read the summary of the story' date=' Dracula didn't overwhelm Strange physically but used his hypnosis to gain the advantage. Gotta believe Doc is tougher mentally then he is physically.[/quote']

He won a psychic face-off with Moondragon, I remember. Though, granted, she'd been mentally re-wired (mental transform to loyal minion) at the time. Back on the other hand, though, it was implied that she was still a very heavy hitter in the psi department - like, on a cosmic scale.

[Twilight]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

He won a psychic face-off with Moondragon' date=' I remember. Though, granted, she'd been mentally re-wired (mental transform to loyal minion) at the time. Back on the other hand, though, it was implied that she was still a very heavy hitter in the psi department - like, on a cosmic scale.[/quote']

 

So still an impressive feat on Dracula's part to get the drop on Strange then, unless there were extenuating circumstances not mentioned in the summary of the story. One could argue Strange was merely overconfident and Dracula took advantage, or take into account Dracula's experience [he has been around for a century or two as a vamp at that point I belive.] Either way, he was a heavy hitter in Marvel in his day.

[Weldun]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Sorry to come in a little off the current vein, but I've been thinking. One of the "classic" vampire weaknesses requires a little thought. Their problems with sunlight.

When using them in champions, it seems to be a Susceptability, and a pretty nasty one at that, but what are they susceptable to exactly. Is it natural sunlight? Can they hide under a blanket? Or is like they are in marvel, with just about any concentrated source of UV being enough?

 

It just seems to me that one needs to be consistent in this, and be very careful about how bad it is. In a superpowered environment, can a vampire avoid this by donning a suit of powered armour? Or worse, wear a force-field belt that specifically filters out UV (Opaque to UV in game terms)? Sorry about the lack of segue, but this seemed the best place to drop the question.

[Twilight]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

I'd say take it on a case by case basis but be consistent with it. If you say that natural sunlight harms vampires then that's that and you can't harm them with tanning beds turned into weapons. If you want to go a more superhero route, I'd say it was the UV [as I belive Monica Rambeau was able to use her powers to mimic sunlight to defeat vamps at one point, though I could be wrong.]

 

As for how they'd block it, I'd say if they're standing in sunlight they're fried and they'd need more then a force field to take care of it. At least not a transparent forcefield. One that blocked the sunlight completely would work but then they'd need some way to see through it. Personally I'm not fond of vamps easily counteracting the sunlight weakness. Sure Stoker's Dracula was able to move about in daylight, but even then his powers were severely limited by it [loss of transforming powers as I recall.]

[Shaft]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Here's a variant that might be fun: make the vampire a multiform.

 

Form 1 is the vampire in humanoid form. He has desolid, 0 END, persistent, always on, only to protect from damage. The desolid doesn't work against wood and whatever other attacks you decide he can be affected by (he'd have a vulnerability to sunlight and holy objects, from which he gets no protection). Unless an attack can affect desolid, he is pretty much invulnerable. A blessed weapon that can attack the spirit (affects desolid) world would also hurt him, as would Ego attacks, which is appropriate. The special affect for this "desolid"ness can be superfast regeneration, toughness, or both.

 

His 33 STR has the advantage usable while desolid (making it the equivalent of a 99 active pt ability). So does his 2d6 HKA (which jumps up to 4d6).

 

Any mental powers he has are usable while "desolid", so no advantage needs to be bought. Give him flight or leaping to move around, and the other classic powers that you choose are appropriate (as well as a few points of armor in case the players find a holy weapon). Regenerating a few points of body while he is sleeping is appropriate too, as is a transformation (target into vampire).

 

The other forms can be a gaseous form, a bat, a wolf, etc...

[Weldun]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Here's a variant that might be fun: make the vampire a multiform.

 

Form 1 is the vampire in humanoid form. He has desolid, 0 END, persistent, always on, only to protect from damage. The desolid doesn't work against wood and whatever other attacks you decide he can be affected by (he'd have a vulnerability to sunlight and holy objects, from which he gets no protection). Unless an attack can affect desolid, he is pretty much invulnerable. A blessed weapon that can attack the spirit (affects desolid) world would also hurt him, as would Ego attacks, which is appropriate. The special affect for this "desolid"ness can be superfast regeneration, toughness, or both.

 

His 33 STR has the advantage usable while desolid (making it the equivalent of a 99 active pt ability). So does his 2d6 HKA (which jumps up to 4d6).

 

Any mental powers he has are usable while "desolid", so no advantage needs to be bought. Give him flight or leaping to move around, and the other classic powers that you choose are appropriate (as well as a few points of armor in case the players find a holy weapon). Regenerating a few points of body while he is sleeping is appropriate too, as is a transformation (target into vampire).

 

The other forms can be a gaseous form, a bat, a wolf, etc...

And then the man just waltzes in with the elegant solution. Repped.

[Shaft]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

And then the man just waltzes in with the elegant solution. Repped.

 

You're too kind. Thanks.

 

Best part, the players may not realise what the mechanics of the defense is since Desolid is usually associated with intangibility. They may even have an attack that affects desolid, but if it may not occur to them to try it right off the bat.

 

Of course if they read this thread, so much for surprise. Mind you, with vampires, everyone starts collecting broken pool cues, baseball bats, and full length gardening tools, to say nothing of the bibles, holy water and bags of sunlight(?).

[Vestnik]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

You know, all this gives me the idea of a character who is an escaped vampire/other undead beastie from a parallel universe/hidden civilization in which necromancy has risen to the level where it takes the place of technology. In this universe, human beings rule, and manufacture undead to serve them as slaves, provide raw material for ghastly necromantic experiments, and so forth. The character would perhaps be an escaped slave, who, given his/its background, has a much different perspective than the "standard" vampire/other undead beasty. Any ideas on this?

[Dog Soldier]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

In order to turn someone into a Vampire the victim dies. In any game I would run this means all previous attributes are lost and are replaced with Vampiric powers. No Mutant powers for a Vampire, no Vampire cyborgs, no mad scientist Vampires. Knowledge may be retained, perhaps money and position are maintained. But that's it.

[Vestnik]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

In order to turn someone into a Vampire the victim dies. In any game I would run this means all previous attributes are lost and are replaced with Vampiric powers. No Mutant powers for a Vampire' date=' no Vampire cyborgs, no mad scientist Vampires. Knowledge may be retained, perhaps money and position are maintained. But that's it.[/quote']

 

Well, that depends on how you interpret how vampirism works. You could posit a case of a viral infection, a soul corruption, or things like that that alter the victim without slaying him.

[Shaft]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Would this be for a PC or NPC? Does the vampire need to drink blood? How do humans control vampires?

 

A more plausible take on it is that the society is openly ruled by vampires, who use necromancy and black magic to lord over the human "cattle". The human population is maintained only for use as a food source, and as such receive minimal education, though occasionally a human might be groomed to become a vampire. This happens rarely, though since the vampire society works fine with a birth rate of 0%.

 

Not every vampire is a mage, but advances in magic advance their society the same way advances in tech advance ours. Magic items might be commonplace. Perhaps non-magical technology is roughly equal to the Victorian era, giving the society a "gaslight" look, and justifying a widespread Bram Stoker's Count Dracula feel. Their powerful rituals have also blocked out the sun, so the realm is perpetually nightime.

 

The character might be an exile, who finds himself in our dimension and develops a conscience while here (I always liked the "his soul is returned" justification, but inviting a comparison to Joss Whedon's characters can be daunting).

 

Another possibility is that the character was a human fetus in a mother who was transformed. He was raised in the society, but never lost his connection to humanity (if you like, use the Blade idea all the way and make him a DayWalker). He leaves of his own volition determined to return one day and overthrow the vampires that created him.

 

Or combine the two and make it that the DayWalker is on a quest to find his soul, which is not lost to him since he is part human.

[Vestnik]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Would this be for a PC or NPC? Does the vampire need to drink blood? How do humans control vampires?

 

In China Mieville's book The Scar, he posits an island ruled by powerful (human) necromancers who lord it over the vampires (who are viewed as a an oppressed slave caste) by denying them access to blood, IIRC. IIRC again, the humans are on the top of the totem pole, then their immediate lich servants, and then the vampire plebes.

 

It wouldn't be hard for humans to gain ascendency over vampires, I think, given advanced, widespread necromanctic knowledge and the rather extreme disadvantages vampires have.

[Shaft]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

It wouldn't be hard for humans to gain ascendency over vampires, I think, given advanced, widespread necromanctic knowledge and the rather extreme disadvantages vampires have.

 

Good point.

 

With that in mind, vampires would be good thugs and henchmen. Perhaps the PC was dispatched to our dimension on an errand for his master when something occurs to make him go rogue. Or perhaps his master is killed and he finds himself unable to return to his home dimension. Along the way, he becomes a goodguy, though his adherence to good is complicated by the fact that he still wants to avenge his fallen master. He is constantly being attacked by other vampires who are dispatched by the other necromancers who want him dealth with once and for all.

[Vestnik]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

I was thinking of something like this:

 

Let's say you have a society in which everyone from thge age of, say, 15 or so has necromantic abilities, can control undead and so forth. In such a situation being undead automatically puts you in a very bad situation -- you are everyone's toy. I could see a culture in which being made "undead" -- hence a cursed slave subject to everyone's whim -- is a punishment for criminal activity, rebelling against the state, or whatever. They would effetively be the slaves. If the society needs more slaves, they just condemn a few criminals and make vampires out of them.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

In order to turn someone into a Vampire the victim dies. In any game I would run this means all previous attributes are lost and are replaced with Vampiric powers. No Mutant powers for a Vampire' date=' no Vampire cyborgs, no mad scientist Vampires. Knowledge may be retained, perhaps money and position are maintained. But that's it.[/quote']

Obviously you can do it this way if you like, but the vampire retaining his mortal abilities has a lot of history in the literature. I think it goes a long way in distinguishing one vamp from another, myself. I'm curious, if someone in your game has a resurrection power, does everyone he uses it on come back without their supernormal abilities? And what's the justification for a cyborg losing his implanted doohickies?

[Dog Soldier]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Vampire classically have shape shifting. Fog form and that sort of thing. Cyber doohickeys shouldn't do that. I guess it's my prejudice against having a character stack tons of nifty powers on top of each other.

[Weldun]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

I can see the problem with vampire cyborgs (assuming it has metamorphic traits or regeneration), but why would a vampire lose his magic? Mutant powers, well yeah. They're supposedly because of a funky gene, right. On a case-by-case basis, I could see it. But a Mad Scientist? Unless you're going the "vampire=demon-possessed corpse with no knowledge retained from the deceased" road, I don't see why not? And I'm afraid, "because it smells like limburger" doesn't quite cut it.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

Meh. Every vampire shapeshift I've ever seen (in movies and comics - don't be a wiseguy) includes his clothes - it's hard to be a suave, menacing creature of the night when your junk is all hangin out. Why couldn't an implant go where the clothes go?

 

And as for mutant genes, well, a vampire's eye color is determined by his genes and retained post-mortem... Though yeah, case-by-case would be the way to go with this.

 

But yeah, Dog Soldier, I can totally understand wanting to avoid that whole "stack up ever more templates so my character is the Kewlest Ultimate Power" thing; it's one reason I argued on the Random Powers thread in favor of consistent themes. If I ever put a Ninja Cyborg Mageborn Mutant Psionic Adamantium-laced Half-Dragon Vampire in a game, everyone else is invited to me...

[Shaft]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

I can see the problem with vampire cyborgs (assuming it has metamorphic traits or regeneration)' date=' but why would a vampire lose his magic? Mutant powers, well yeah. They're supposedly because of a funky gene, right. On a case-by-case basis, I could see it. But a Mad Scientist? Unless you're going the "vampire=demon-possessed corpse with no knowledge retained from the deceased" road, I don't see why not? And I'm afraid, "because it smells like limburger" doesn't quite cut it.[/quote']

 

It makes sense that the vampire's regeneration rejects the implanted cyberware. However, the other way to treat it is that vampires retain their cyberware, but it prevents them from shapshifting or becoming mist (though there's nothing in the Desolid power that causes this. It's just what passes for realism in this kind of discussion). It might even be possible for the vampire to get new implants if the technology (or magic?) exists to fuse bionic devices to undead flesh.

 

Mutant genes can be "repaired" by the vampirism, but I think it's cooler if the vampire retains his mutant abilities. If vampirism is viewed as a further mutation, it can go both ways.

 

As for losing magic, it depends on how the character's magic work. If the character is a cleric type who requires a link to his god, he might no longer have divine favour. If it's spellcraft that is learned by the book, it makes sense that he retains it.

[Dog Soldier]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

I suppose a lot of it depends on the nature of the Vampirism. If it's a virus that can be cured then there's a potential for a cure, old skills may be retained, implants and the like remain. But then I'd have to rule against having some of the genre powers. If the Vampire has actually died I have no problem with him magically having memories of things he'd have known how to do before but I have to draw the line at him actually using most technology. In other words the Mad Scientist turned Vampire Overlord never picks up a test tube or touches a keyboard but he'll know if his human minions are doing the job or not.

 

As for the clothes, I would almost be willing to grant that as part of the illusion. In other words if you could see the vamp as he really is he'd be an animated skeleton though even he'd not realize this. It would be all about affecting the mind.

 

My opinions of course YMMV

[Black Rose]

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting

 

It makes sense that the vampire's regeneration rejects the implanted cyberware. However' date=' the other way to treat it is that vampires retain their cyberware, but it prevents them from shapshifting or becoming mist (though there's nothing in the Desolid power that causes this. It's just what passes for realism in this kind of discussion). It might even be possible for the vampire to get new implants if the technology (or magic?) exists to fuse bionic devices to undead flesh.[/quote']

This would also make an effective way to restrict a vamp: implant, possibly with some sort of hypo-dart or somesuch, a small bionic device that hooks itself into the vamp's system; my preference is for some sort of biomonitor/tracker. Now the vamp can't shift, and you even know where it is at all times. Sweet.

 

Mutant genes can be "repaired" by the vampirism, but I think it's cooler if the vampire retains his mutant abilities. If vampirism is viewed as a further mutation, it can go both ways.

 

As for losing magic, it depends on how the character's magic work. If the character is a cleric type who requires a link to his god, he might no longer have divine favour. If it's spellcraft that is learned by the book, it makes sense that he retains it.

Totally in agreement on the magic Shaft. I could see cases where the mutant abilities wouldn't make it over, due to the vamp being, well, dead, but I could see a lot of them crossing over.