Heroic Vampires

[Kal'El Wayne]

I was trying to do a set of write ups for PCs on the normal 200/-150 point Superheroic campaign style, using the classic monsters, starting with Vampires. I struggled a little to buy everything I needed, but I think I've done it. Tell me what you think.

 

Arthur

Str 10 11- (No End, +15 Str with no end, Only in darkness +1/2, 20 Real Points)

Dex 10 11- (+10 Dex, 30 Base Points, Only For Working Out CV -1/4, Real Points 24)

Con 10 11-

Body 10 11-

Int 10 11-

Ego 10 11-

Pre 20 (10 Real Points) 13-

Come 20 (5 Real Points) 13-

Speed 2 in the light or 5 in darkness (30 Base Points, Only in Darkness -1/2, 20 Real Points)

Running 7’

Swimming 2’

Leaping 2’

‘I’ve been killed before, it’s not that bad.’

Healing 1d6 (1 body per turn, 10 Base Points, No End +1/2, Persistent +1/4, Inherent +1/4, Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection-stopped by leaving a stake in the heart, 45 Active Points, Self Only -1/2, Extra Time: 1 turn -1.25, 16 Real Points)

‘Remember to breathe.’

Life Support: Total (50 Base Points, Inherent +1/4, 62 Real Points)

‘Zero brain activity.’

Mental Defense 20 (Inherent +1/4, 25 Real Points)

‘I’ve learned a lot, over the centuries’

Variable Power Pool 10pnts (15 Base Points, No End +1/2, Powers Can Be Changed As A Zero Phase Action +1, 37 Active Points, Only Skills -1, 18 Real Points)

‘You learn to ignore mortal wounds after a while.’

Armour 15 pd/15 ed (Base Points 45, Inherent +1/4, Real Points 56)

‘?’

Flight 8’ (Base Points 16, No End +1/2, Persistent +1/2, Innate +1/4, Active Points 36, Only in Darkness -1/2, 18 Real Points)

Distinctive Features: No heartbeat, Not concealable, Major Reaction, By touch, -25 points

Hunted: various ‘Vampire Hunters’, as powerful, NCI, Frequent, Kill. -20 points.

Psych Limit: Code Vs. Killing, Common & Total -20 points

Social Limit: Secret ID, Frequent, Severe -20 points

 

I still need a quote for Flight and better quotes are always welcome.

[bubba smith]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

i think this would work for thetv character mick st.james from monlight

[Vestnik]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

As a GM I would never allow the VPP. I woudn't allow the DEX only for CV either, or at least look at it oddly. I never use Inherent, but that's just me.

 

I've tried doing a vampire as a 350-point hero and find they only work if you realize that they are mentalists and sneaking-around types primarily. They just don't dish out supers-level damage (if you keep within the original concept). Plus, the standard shticks (turning into animals and so forth) get expensive. Actually I think the only classic monster trope that works at a supers level is the Werewolf.

 

Are you leaving stuff out? His CON is just 10?

[Kal'El Wayne]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

The VPP was basically just because I tried making his skill list and realised that he had roughly ten points worth of skills in each new 'era' of about 250 years each. Rather than spend a boat load of points of historically accurate skills, I figured I could use a ten point VPP to fill in for a historically accurate skill set if the need ever arose. His low Con is just because I figured he wouldn't necessarily have much, he never had much as a normal human, and becoming a vampire gave him all the immunity he needed, so he never needed to develop good constitution.

 

I used inherent to stop people from trying to drain his powers. He doesn't have powers, as much as just being dead. It's all sort of built in to his existence. Plus, as a ghost's desolidification is inherent, and I was buying it all at no end anyway...seems like the right way to model undead. Nothing costs endurance because you can't get tired, and your 'powers' are just side effects of being a corpse.

 

It's not the Dracula style of Early Victorian 'classical' vampire, it's the early European 'living dead' vampire. I just didn't want to give him a very 'corpsey' look because another of my characters for this is going to be a 'voodoo' zombie. I thought that having two very similar characters wouldn't work so well, so I let the zombie have the 'corpse's shell' looks and some brick qualities.

 

The Dex is low because he's as dextrous as he was in life, but the extra Dex for CV is just there because I can't find out how much it would cost to buy CV by itself. It's there to represent the movie style, where a vampire seems to act normally until it is attacked and bats the arrow out of the air or it feeds by moving at superhuman speed.

 

The 'only in darkness' is to help promote classic vampire hunting styles, like knocking on a cottage door, flying high so no one sees you, then swooping down to grab someone who answers and draining them high up in the sky, away from the light of the lanterns/candles/etc inside the cottage.

 

Could someone else build this better for me? Or recommend alternatives?

[Vestnik]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

The Skills VPP means he has every skill in the book at a 10-point level. For 37 points. I personally don't think the "lived through the ages" kind of character is buildable on 350 points, unless most of them are skills.

 

You might want to look at Susano's writeup of The Confessor: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationscomic/astrocity/acconfessor.html (Who should really have more skills, though. )

[Vestnik]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

PS I know the usual justifications for Inherent; I just don't like the Advantage.

[Checkmate]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

... I can't find out how much it would cost to buy CV by itself. It's there to represent the movie style' date=' where a vampire seems to act normally until it is attacked and bats the arrow out of the air or it feeds by moving at superhuman speed.[/quote']

You're looking for Combat Skill Levels which is essentially DEX Only for CV.

 

Yeah not a huge fan of the Inherent Advantage either, I think it's a waste. You're spending a lot of extra points and I have to tell you, I've been playing Hero for around 25 years, and can't remember one instance where someone had a drain vs Life Support. Couldn't even imagine an SFX that would make that appropriate.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

Here is a past forum thread discussing concepts and approaches for fitting vampires into a supers setting, including posts and links to templates for vampires, with various powers and point totals: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50328

[DJ Blackrock]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

I've always found Vampires really hard to pull off in Champions. I went with a dhampir. Basically, the offspring of a vampiric and a human parent. I think I have my vaguely superheroic dhampir written up, and I can post him if you like.

[DJ Blackrock]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

Nikolas Jest

 

Player:

 

Val Char Cost

45 STR 5

20 DEX 30

13 CON 6

15 BODY 10

10 INT 0

14 EGO 8

10 PRE 0

18 COM 4

 

3 PD 0

3 ED 0

8 SPD 20

6 REC 0

28 END 1

55 STUN 25

 

6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

34" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 109

 

Cost Power

20 Dhampir Powers: Elemental Control, 60-point powers, (30 Active Points); all slots Double Endurance Cost (-1/2)

17 1) Fangs: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6 (4d6 w/STR) (30 Active Points); Double Endurance Cost (-1/2), Reduced Penetration (-1/4) [Notes: Not to feed. Combat Bite.]

15 2) Mist Form: Desolidification (affected by Energy, Magic) (40 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2), Double Endurance Cost (-1/2)

9 3) Potence: +30 STR (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 10- (-1 1/4), No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Double Endurance Cost (-1/2)

8 4) Celerity: +3 SPD (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 8- (-2), Double Endurance Cost (-1/2), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4)

15 5) Rapid Healing: Healing BODY 3d6, Can Heal Limbs (35 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2), Double Endurance Cost (-1/2)

32 The Kiss: Drain END 4d6 (40 Active Points); Linked (Fangs; -1/4)

25 Flea's Leap: Leaping +25" (34" forward, 17" upward)

10 Stored Blood: Endurance Reserve (100 END, 0 REC) [Notes: Can only recover from using The Kiss]

30 Corpse Body: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50%

15 Corpse Body: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%

Powers Cost: 196

 

 

Cost Skill

3 Acting 11-

7 Acrobatics 15-

7 Breakfall 15-

7 Combat Driving 15-

7 Lockpicking 15-

5 Security Systems 12-

3 Sleight Of Hand 13-

2 PS: Appraise 11-

Skills Cost: 41

 

 

Cost Talent

9 Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty)

Talents Cost: 9

 

Total Character Cost: 355

 

Pts. Disadvantage

15 Psychological Limitation: Greedy (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Avoids Direct Sunlight (Very Common, Moderate)

20 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN Fire (Common)

10 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Fire (Common)

5 Reputation: Two-Bit Thug, 11- (Known Only To A Small Group)

15 Enraged: Berserk When Body = 3 or less (Uncommon), go 8-, recover 14-

20 Hunted: Center City PD 8- (As Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Capture)

10 Hunted: Mafia 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

10 Susceptibility: Holy Ground 2d6 damage per Minute (Uncommon)

10 Distinctive Features: Deathly Pale (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

5 Reputation: Untrustworthy, 11- (Known Only To A Small Group)

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 5

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

 

Not quite a true vampire I know. If you have any suggestions to help it out, feel free to suggest (BUT PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, DON'T CALL MY KNOWLEDGE OF THE SYSTEM INTO QUESTION! It's VERY insulting. Keep the criticism contructive.)

[Kal'El Wayne]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

DJ Blackrock

The Damphir sounds good, please. At the very least I could cannibalize (vampirize?) some of his powers.

 

Lord Liaden

Thanks for the thread link.

[Markdoc]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

The Skills VPP means he has every skill in the book at a 10-point level. For 37 points. I personally don't think the "lived through the ages" kind of character is buildable on 350 points' date=' unless most of them are skills.)[/quote']

 

I actually like this sort of character and it's quite doable. There's a couple of points. First off, unless the character has perfect recall, he's going to forget stuff. Sure, when he was assistant to Amenhotep, he could speak Akkadian and had mad Khopesh skillz, but heck, it's been 3000 years. He's a little out of practice ...

 

Likewise, area knowledges. People always want a mass of AK's but the truth is, virtually no city looks anything like it did 100 years ago, let alone 200. Even if individual buildings are still there, they are different colours, have signs, the road's moved, they are surrounded by different buildings, etc.

Think about it. Let's take New York - 100 years ago it had a population about a quarter of today's. Manhattan was covered in low-rise buildings, with a whole two skyscrapers (both little ones) and much of upper Manhattan was single family houses on lots. The elevated railway was still in use. Staten island still had lots of farms. Really, a person going on personal knowledge from 1908 would have a harder time getting around NY than anyone would just going on what they have picked up from the web and TV today.

 

Have look at this: downtown Moscow in 1908. Even with perfect recall, how useful are memories like this going to be, for finding your way round Moscow 2009?

 

The way I deal with this is to buy skill modifiers like Linguist/Jack of all Trades/Well-Travelled and a bunch of useful skills at base level (1 or 2 points) and then a few skill levels. At that point any AK or PS cost him 1 point for a decent (not stellar) roll. For AK's I tend to keep it broad (for example "AK: European cities, 14-" rather than listing 15 different ones at 11-.)

 

Then I give him several cramming slots, so that he can sit down and acquire any skill or language he needs at a basic level. That means he always has at least an 8- in any skill he could credibly have had experience in.

 

Taken this way, 30 points is plenty to acquire a vast array of skills.

 

cheers, Mark

[Kal'El Wayne]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

I actually like this sort of character and it's quite doable. There's a couple of points...Taken this way' date=' 30 points is plenty to acquire a vast array of skills. Cheers, Mark[/quote']

Perfect, thanks!

To be honest, I tend to forget how different most of the world is from it's historical counterpart because I live in a British city, of which 25% is still the actual Ancient Roman architecture. But the character doesn't.

[Susano]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

The Skills VPP means he has every skill in the book at a 10-point level. For 37 points. I personally don't think the "lived through the ages" kind of character is buildable on 350 points, unless most of them are skills.

 

You might want to look at Susano's writeup of The Confessor: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationscomic/astrocity/acconfessor.html (Who should really have more skills, though. )

 

That's because I only have him what he did in the comics.

[Vestnik]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

That's because I only have him what he did in the comics.

 

There is that matter...

 

I had the same issue with your writeup of Alucard. If he really is Vlad the Impaler, he should have KS: Wallachian History, LANG: Romanian, PS: Prince, WF: Swords and Pikes and Bows, Tactics, CuK: Medieval Wallachia... PLUS all the various stuff he should know from his time as Dracula. AND everything in between. He would be a 2000-point character! It's not his fault the anime doesn't do him credit!

 

It's absurd I know, but I'm really, really anal about stuff like this. Which is why my characters tend to spend huge amounts on skills they will never use.

 

EDIT: Just read MarkDoc's great post. Perhaps I should reconsider.

[Susano]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

There is that matter...

 

I had the same issue with your writeup of Alucard. If he really is Vlad the Impaler, he should have KS: Wallachian History, LANG: Romanian, PS: Prince, WF: Swords and Pikes and Bows, Tactics, CuK: Medieval Wallachia... PLUS all the various stuff he should know from his time as Dracula. AND everything in between. He would be a 2000-point character!

 

It's absurd I know, but I'm really, really anal about stuff like this. Which is why my characters tend to spend huge amounts on skills they will never use.

 

EDIT: Just read MarkDoc's great post. Perhaps I should reconsider.

 

As I told someone else, the character sheet is for the anime version. The manga version is a lot more specific about who he is and shows him using some of those skills.

[Markdoc]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

Perfect, thanks!

To be honest, I tend to forget how different most of the world is from it's historical counterpart because I live in a British city, of which 25% is still the actual Ancient Roman architecture. But the character doesn't.

 

Even in places like London, though, things change a lot. OK, the inns of the city haven't altered much, but unless you confine yourself to the City, things have changed a lot. I was reading Britain's Lost Cities by Gavin Stamp recently and the photos make it clear how much Britain's cities have changed just over the last century: vast swathes have been swept away for motorways and postwar development, suburbs have sprawled out over the landscape, and even in the urban cores, old buildings have been demolished, altered and so on.

 

Here's a good example: Sadlers Wells theatre from a bit over a century ago

 

Here's a picture taken from more less the same spot:

 

Much of the building from the 18th century is still there, but if you were looking for it recalling how it looked 100 years ago .... Even landmarks that you might think you could rely on - like the canal - are gone (incidentally, the canal's still there too - it's just underground).

 

cheers, Mark

[Vestnik]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

Even in places like London, though, things change a lot.

cheers, Mark

 

Back in my journalist days (around 2001) I interviewed the CEO of Beiersdorf Russia (the guys who sell Nivea cosmetics), and he told me that they knew they had had a factory in Moscow before 1917 but didn't have a clue where it was, given that the city had changed so extraordinarily.

[Markdoc]

Re: Heroic Vampires

 

Back in my journalist days (around 2001) I interviewed the CEO of Beiersdorf Russia (the guys who sell Nivea cosmetics)' date=' and he told me that they knew they had had a factory in Moscow before 1917 but didn't have a clue where it was, given that the city had changed so extraordinarily.[/quote']

 

Yep - a few years back, I went back to the town I grew up in. Although I had only been away about 10 years, I had some difficulty finding several of the places I wanted to go. In some cases, it was because the places I was looking for simply weren't there anymore. In other cases it was because the place I wanted to go was no longer accessible the way I used to go - for example, on the other side of a 4 lane road with a concrete divider: I had to hunt around to find a way across and then a way back to where I wanted to go. In other cases, it was simply because the buildings and streets I unconsciously used to navigate by, had gone/changed. And that's a small city where I had lived for 16 years, after only 10 years away. Even features you think of as "unchanging" like hills can look quite different once all the trees are gone and there are houses on them. I think because changes happen so gradually in the places where we live, we lose track of exactly how much things change and how rapidly.

 

cheers, Mark