Topic: How would you GM a pc vampire?

[Druss_the_Legend]

How would you GM a pc vampire?

I have a pc who is cursed and is gradually becoming a vampire. This curse originates from a sword however the pc already has 'dark' tendencies and an unusual background (The pc has multiple split personalities and learns spells as an archmage and becomes an undead lich/vampire when he dies).

I have given the pc nightvision and a penalty to actions during the day.
Next I was thinking of giving him enhanced hearing and speed but the drawback of bloodlust/frenzy and a hunger for human blood. One of their split personalities is a sorcerer type spell user.

Interested in your thoughts on how to proceed from here.

[Thot]

How would you GM a pc vampire?

I have a pc who is cursed and is gradually becoming a vampire. This curse originates from a sword however the pc already has 'dark' tendencies and an unusual background (The pc has multiple split personalities and learns spells as an archmage and becomes an undead lich/vampire when he dies).

I have given the pc nightvision and a penalty to actions during the day.
Next I was thinking of giving him enhanced hearing and speed but the drawback of bloodlust/frenzy and a hunger for human blood. One of their split personalities is a sorcerer type spell user.

Interested in your thoughts on how to proceed from here.

If he is slowly becoming a vampire, then the daylight penalty and the urge to feed on blood will probably increase over time. At some point, a small "hits per time spent in direct sunlight" damage over time effect could be added and increased. Once that reaches a threshhold you decide on in advance, add a heat critical to that.

The game world part then will be really interesting - will he have vampire hunters? Are there other vampires who might seek his aid, or see him as a rival?

[Druss_the_Legend]

How would you GM a pc vampire?

I have a pc who is cursed and is gradually becoming a vampire. This curse originates from a sword however the pc already has 'dark' tendencies and an unusual background (The pc has multiple split personalities and learns spells as an archmage and becomes an undead lich/vampire when he dies).

I have given the pc nightvision and a penalty to actions during the day.
Next I was thinking of giving him enhanced hearing and speed but the drawback of bloodlust/frenzy and a hunger for human blood. One of their split personalities is a sorcerer type spell user.

Interested in your thoughts on how to proceed from here.

If he is slowly becoming a vampire, then the daylight penalty and the urge to feed on blood will probably increase over time. At some point, a small "hits per time spent in direct sunlight" damage over time effect could be added and increased. Once that reaches a threshhold you decide on in advance, add a heat critical to that.

The game world part then will be really interesting - will he have vampire hunters? Are there other vampires who might seek his aid, or see him as a rival?

great ideas! this pc has been recruited by an assassins guild who know of his potential as a killer. The leader of the guild already has one vampire working for him, a female, she is a deadly killer and only ventures out at night. My plan is to pair them up, with the vampire training the pc to use his newfound powers. Over time he will feel more compulsion to give in to his bloodlust and will have a cumulative penalty to actions until he does kill and feed. His mentor, the female may indeed see him as a rival or threat to her standing in the guild.
At some point the pcs outlook and perception of his surroundings will be dramatically altered with him viewing people as little more than a food source. Once he kills his first victim he will be well on his path to darkness.

[Nders]

I have done this a few times over the years. I use the vampire concept from creatures and treasures I Rm2. That means that vampires suffer no ill effect from sunlight except that they have no vampiric powers. I use the statistic modifiers from RoCoVI - you could do the same and just gradually implement them as the character starts consuming blood. You could use the fatigue rule modifiers for RMU for not being rested if he does not feed or sleep in soil from his homeland. You could rule that when the fatigue penalty exceeds -100 he goes on a feeding frenzy. You could let him develop control lycanthropy to control it.

[Spectre771]

great ideas! this pc has been recruited by an assassins guild who know of his potential as a killer. The leader of the guild already has one vampire working for him, a female, she is a deadly killer and only ventures out at night. My plan is to pair them up, with the vampire training the pc to use his newfound powers. Over time he will feel more compulsion to give in to his bloodlust and will have a cumulative penalty to actions until he does kill and feed. His mentor, the female may indeed see him as a rival or threat to her standing in the guild.

THAT is a very cool idea as well. 

Have you given thought to a vampire archetype?  Creatures & Treasures 1 (RM2), Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Interview with a Vampire, Penny Dreadful, Blade, so on?   The vampire in Penny Dreadful seemed to be unaffected by sunlight at all.  The Blade vampires could be in the early sunlight with full body coverage for a brief amount of time.  There's no reason you couldn't use those themes and allow the vampire out in the daylight.  What better way to throw people off the trail by being out in daylight?  Blade was able to be in daylight as he was half vampire.  Even during the transformation to vampire, the PC could still be very active in daylight.

(The pc has multiple split personalities and learns spells as an archmage and becomes an undead lich/vampire when he dies).

Interested in your thoughts on how to proceed from here.

Also very cool!  You could look at the stats and info for a Lich from C&T and start to tailor the progression of the character into a Lich.  Depending on how long he's been under the curse, or how many PC levels he's advanced under the curse could determine the powers of the Lich upon death.

How long in game time will you give before the player is a full vampire?
If the player is away from the sword will there be a penalty to actions/activity?   Will the curse start to gradually reverse?

I would treat the blood lust as a disease RR or poison RR whenever the PC is exposed to blood or carnage.  The rolls becoming increasingly difficult each time the PC is exposed to blood.  The difficulty jumps a significant amount if he succumbs to drinking blood.  I would also increase the difficulty the longer he goes without drinking blood.

Manifesting the powers will work in great with the multiple personality disorder.  Once personality is studying the dark arts and learning the spells while another personality has no idea how or why he knows these spells.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Spectre771
I appreciate your support and input. The split personality has opened up many possibilities and that by itself has been challenging and interesting to include. My thinking here is there are at least 3 alternate personalities with one dominant one (the dark/evil one) which is taking over more and more, or starting to manifest itself. So far, from the pcs point of view they have "blacked out" when the personality takes control and they "wake up" somewhere new and they can't remember how they got there. One time I totally threw the player in the deep end and had them "wake up" in the middle of a conversation with some 'enemy agents' (the pc is a double agent spy type who is being used by both sides).

As for the vampire curse, I am leaning more towards the Blade style vampire with the pc being able to tolerate sunlight with minor penalties at first but as his powers increase he will need to be fully covered during the day. Even his mentor the assassin could tolerate daylight for small periods of time provided she was covered totally. I am thinking the Leader of the assassins guild is also dabbling in the dark arts and may indeed be a vampire himself, his goal is to create an elite group of vampire assassins who will help forward his goals of domination in the city. There are a few other factions who hold power in the city and he is gathering strength and followers before making his play for power.

The source of the curse is a sword which has been corrupting the pc. He already finds it hard to put down but if it was somehow taken from him the curse would be reversible provided he had not given in to the Blood Hunger. At that point some more powerful magical intervention would be required to remove the curse (perhaps killing the Assassin leader?).

[Sweetleaf]

I would use a mechanic whereby the curse only becomes irreversible if he feeds, then it's bound to him as part of his nature.  To encourage the mindset that P.C's are food, not friends, is privately tell him that he gets a sudden rush when he touched someone.  He could tell that it was the warm, gushing life just below the skin causing it, and it totally made him at +5 for a few minutes nullifying the cumulative negative he might be feeling.  Then when he smells them he gets a slight boost of +1 or something to tempt him to go further, but he has to actively smell them, a deep lungful with a smile on his face should be enough.  That should make people wonder how strange he is and that's all it should mean to any of them, but to him he smells the blood and then he feels hunger and a negative value gets added to all his actions for a time.

This could lead to the behaviour of touching inappropriately, but with the emphasis on the touch not countering the negative effects enough or perhaps not giving such a boost after the first time, should drive the P.C toward the eventual snack time.

The drinking of blood shouldn't be a point of introspection for the new vamp, it should be a point where he feels so strong and amazing, like he could easily take on a fully armed guard and could defeat him without any kind of worry, but would also feel great at the end of it, all vamped up and stronger, faster and unstoppable.

It would only be in the quiet moments after that blood lust passed that a clear mind returns and the slight consideration for snuffing out a life might gnaw at him, like an addict who had just scored a big hit of cocaine he could maybe leap and touch the moon, and now he's coming down and he took someone's life etc. And yet, the next person he's close to and accidentally brushes against the skin of... gosh that +5 came back like the wild drug ride that the vampirism could become until it's completely accepted and blended into the new character's usual existence.

If he is unwilling to go the extra distance between touching and drinking then you could have an engineered event, outside a butcher's back door or something as a slight splash of blood provides a singular and temporary +10 perhaps.

It's all down to the reward system you're willing to offer for a thing to occur, in this case for someone to step over the boundary into vampirism.

In modern folk lore the potential vampire only looses his/her ability to walk in day light, representative of them loosing the light within themselves and their humanity, after they feed for the first time, and dark gifts become available only if the individual actually fully embraces the new role, and even relishes the feeding and the  massacre.  Burning hatred and consuming nihilism are both positive vampire personality traits, both exhibited by 'the one' fictional vampire in folk lore who could walk in day light and was almost undefeatable etc etc  So basically it's about becoming a fantasy-fiction super villain of epic ferocity.

He did stare into the abyss and the abyss was full of blood, and it sustained him for eternity, living long after the civilization he's a part of rose and fell - could be part of a dream you send the way of the P.C. and that's just another tool at your disposal to tempt the P.C over the threshold.

[intothatdarkness]

Sounds a bit like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, actually. One of the main assassins in the Brotherhood was a vampire, and that idea carried over (although in a much thinner way) to Skyrim.

John Carpenter's "Vampires" might also hold something...you could always tempt the PC into deeper darkness with the idea of a ritual that would allow them to walk in sunlight with no issues. Or something like Skyrim's idea of 'killing the sun' and replacing everything with darkness.

[Druss_the_Legend]

I would use a mechanic whereby the curse only becomes irreversible if he feeds, then it's bound to him as part of his nature.  To encourage the mindset that P.C's are food, not friends, is privately tell him that he gets a sudden rush when he touched someone.  He could tell that it was the warm, gushing life just below the skin causing it, and it totally made him at +5 for a few minutes nullifying the cumulative negative he might be feeling.  Then when he smells them he gets a slight boost of +1 or something to tempt him to go further, but he has to actively smell them, a deep lungful with a smile on his face should be enough.  That should make people wonder how strange he is and that's all it should mean to any of them, but to him he smells the blood and then he feels hunger and a negative value gets added to all his actions for a time.

This could lead to the behaviour of touching inappropriately, but with the emphasis on the touch not countering the negative effects enough or perhaps not giving such a boost after the first time, should drive the P.C toward the eventual snack time.

The drinking of blood shouldn't be a point of introspection for the new vamp, it should be a point where he feels so strong and amazing, like he could easily take on a fully armed guard and could defeat him without any kind of worry, but would also feel great at the end of it, all vamped up and stronger, faster and unstoppable.

It would only be in the quiet moments after that blood lust passed that a clear mind returns and the slight consideration for snuffing out a life might gnaw at him, like an addict who had just scored a big hit of cocaine he could maybe leap and touch the moon, and now he's coming down and he took someone's life etc. And yet, the next person he's close to and accidentally brushes against the skin of... gosh that +5 came back like the wild drug ride that the vampirism could become until it's completely accepted and blended into the new character's usual existence.

If he is unwilling to go the extra distance between touching and drinking then you could have an engineered event, outside a butcher's back door or something as a slight splash of blood provides a singular and temporary +10 perhaps.

It's all down to the reward system you're willing to offer for a thing to occur, in this case for someone to step over the boundary into vampirism.

In modern folk lore the potential vampire only looses his/her ability to walk in day light, representative of them loosing the light within themselves and their humanity, after they feed for the first time, and dark gifts become available only if the individual actually fully embraces the new role, and even relishes the feeding and the  massacre.  Burning hatred and consuming nihilism are both positive vampire personality traits, both exhibited by 'the one' fictional vampire in folk lore who could walk in day light and was almost undefeatable etc etc  So basically it's about becoming a fantasy-fiction super villain of epic ferocity.

He did stare into the abyss and the abyss was full of blood, and it sustained him for eternity, living long after the civilization he's a part of rose and fell - could be part of a dream you send the way of the P.C. and that's just another tool at your disposal to tempt the P.C over the threshold.

i like the dreams concept. that will set the tone for the Blood Hunger early on. I agree the curse will be fully established and not easily reversed once the pc gives in to the blood hunger, most likely go with the Resistance Roll method with cumulative penalties/mods to the roll (The actual mods/penalty will be a little situational). Currently their split personality has a chance to trigger each time the pc uses a spell from an evil spell list or experiences stress/trauma, these are like corruption points. I think the blood hunger will do something similar, building up a cumulative -5 to RR per day with maybe an extra modifier or -10 to-20 depending on the situation (eg. seeing a critical delivered which causes hits per round). This pc is part of a party of 3 players, none know of his curse at this point.

[Spectre771]

Sounds a bit like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, actually. One of the main assassins in the Brotherhood was a vampire, and that idea carried over (although in a much thinner way) to Skyrim.

I was thinking the same thing. :-)  As well as Morrowind.  Getting cursed into a Vampire was a pain and reversing the curse took days of game time. 

Druss_the_Legend, how do you play out the "blackout periods?"  Do you just tell the player the new circumstances he's awoken to, sort of like Quantum Leap, and he has to figure it out?  The dream (nightmares) method is very good way to feed the player a little info at a time and to let him try to piece the events together. 

I reread the posts and I'm not sure if the actual player knows he's a vampire?  Have you told the player he's turning into a vampire or are you waking up him up in weird situations?  (Kudos for the latter    )  The player may actually embrace the idea of being a vampire (no pun intended) and that could derail the campaign you may have laid out, the messing with his head method is so much more fun.

As the curse goes on and the blood lust becomes greater, you can have his blackout periods happen more frequently too.  Certainly make it more difficult for him to resist a drink of blood of a fallen enemy, then have his rational mind try to cope with the perversion of cannibalism.  That could be some good roleplaying on his part.  Vampire:tM has a great set of guidelines for resisting the blood lust.  Perhaps you could look into that to get some more ideas.

[intothatdarkness]

What interests me more is what the party will do once they figure out what's happening. Those are always the more interesting dynamics to me.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Sounds a bit like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, actually. One of the main assassins in the Brotherhood was a vampire, and that idea carried over (although in a much thinner way) to Skyrim.

I was thinking the same thing. :-)  As well as Morrowind.  Getting cursed into a Vampire was a pain and reversing the curse took days of game time. 

Druss_the_Legend, how do you play out the "blackout periods?"  Do you just tell the player the new circumstances he's awoken to, sort of like Quantum Leap, and he has to figure it out?  The dream (nightmares) method is very good way to feed the player a little info at a time and to let him try to piece the events together. 

I reread the posts and I'm not sure if the actual player knows he's a vampire?  Have you told the player he's turning into a vampire or are you waking up him up in weird situations?  (Kudos for the latter    )  The player may actually embrace the idea of being a vampire (no pun intended) and that could derail the campaign you may have laid out, the messing with his head method is so much more fun.

As the curse goes on and the blood lust becomes greater, you can have his blackout periods happen more frequently too.  Certainly make it more difficult for him to resist a drink of blood of a fallen enemy, then have his rational mind try to cope with the perversion of cannibalism.  That could be some good roleplaying on his part.  Vampire:tM has a great set of guidelines for resisting the blood lust.  Perhaps you could look into that to get some more ideas.

PC suspects he is turning into Vampire or similar dark creature. He has dark eyes, sensitivity to sunlight, is growing long nails and infra-vision so far. next will be the sharpened canines, but these may only appear at night perhaps, just trying to show a gradual change. an intersting aspect im playing with is the curse started from the sword but even without the sword these changes will continue due to his dark background (lich/vampire/split personality taking over).

Yes i have used the quantum leap idea where they have been assumed to have lost a period of time as the new personality but are not entirely sure what has actually happened and what they have said. Its been confusing and rather hard on the player but i just wanted to show that things ARE confusing and rather random with these split personalities and there is little control over when they will be triggered (the player tends to avoid combat and therefore avoids one of the triggers).

This vampire curse does connect nicely with his background/back story on many levels (The pc was rescued from the gallows by a mysterious NPC, then the pc was spared from death in a battle with assassin and then later he was recruited by a dangerous guild of assassins, the assassin leader is working with a dark cult who are employing dark arts to create more vampires (This cult has its own agenda to summon a powerful entity).

Party has not noticed he is changing at this point (he wears gloves and a hood during the day and keeps his face mostly covered). As a burglar he is already s shifty type character that likes to keep to the shadows and tends to sneak about unnoticed much of the time. Id like to initiate an encounter with city guards at some point where he is asked to remove his hood/cowl and see what reaction the other players give when they see his pale features and dark eyes.

[Bruce]

Would I GM a PC vampire, no. Why? To quote my post on the ICE FB page: "I am honestly tired of vampires as I have been since the 80's. To me, vampires are supposed to be the embodiment of evil. In my campaigns there are no such things as good vampires, if the characters ever encounter any."

I have thought about what would happen if a PC did possibly get "infected" to become a vampire. The way I look at is becoming a vampire is actually a choice at some point and once you make it you are done as a PC because they could become to powerful. If one does get infected they go through similar changes like have been mentioned. But the hunger and the pains worsen as time goes on. Once the character chooses to feed on a living being they start to have dreams and nightmares about some shadowy presence. It has to be so that it frightens them. But in these dreams and nightmares they are shown the full power of what they can become, but they also know that to become that they will be fully evil. They basically have the same attitude and outlook as a Rolemaster Dark elf (I believe they are called Dyari). That is when they have to make a decision to become a vampire. If they take their time and try to fight it then they get weaker and weaker over time and their physical appearance and demeanor changes to the more bestial vampires that simply act on instinct. Up until the point when they make the decision the process can be reversed but the longer they wait the harder it becomes.
Making the choice: If the character agrees to become a vampire then they sort of become possessed... not exactly but sort of...lol. It is where they gain a connection to some sort of demonic (or unlife) presence, this is where the vampire's powers and abilities are defined. This can also define what weaknesses they have and how strong the weakness is(sunlight, garlic etc). For the most part they would be the same as they are in the myths but with some variations. If the character decides to fight it on their own they become more beastly as mentioned above and eventually they become the embodiment of the horrific unthinking vampiric beasts. Their mind has essentially become so twisted with the nightmares and intermittent connection with the unlife or the demonic influences that they are completely crazed or mad. They are also what i would call partially possessed as part of the psyche has been taken over by some other worldly creature or demon (whatever makes more sense). At this point the only escape is death. The same goes for actually choosing to become a vampire.

Consequently vampires can not really be controlled or bargained with. If someone does enter a contract or bargain with a vampire it is usually because the vampire is manipulating the situation so that they gain something out of the whole thing.... much of like the Dyari.

[Thot]

Would I GM a PC vampire, no. Why? To quote my post on the ICE FB page: "I am honestly tired of vampires as I have been since the 80's. To me, vampires are supposed to be the embodiment of evil. In my campaigns there are no such things as good vampires, if the characters ever encounter any."

So in your games, vampires are all mad, or are all under the control of an evil god? I find your later explanation not completely clear...

I have thought about what would happen if a PC did possibly get "infected" to become a vampire. The way I look at is becoming a vampire is actually a choice at some point and once you make it you are done as a PC because they could become to powerful.
[...]

Hm. In a game where you can turn into a man-dragon if you know the right spell list at level 50, I don't believe that power argument is a valid point. Or do you impose a maximum level on your campaigns, after which there is no more progression?

[Bruce]

Would I GM a PC vampire, no. Why? To quote my post on the ICE FB page: "I am honestly tired of vampires as I have been since the 80's. To me, vampires are supposed to be the embodiment of evil. In my campaigns there are no such things as good vampires, if the characters ever encounter any."

So in your games, vampires are all mad, or are all under the control of an evil god? I find your later explanation not completely clear...

I have thought about what would happen if a PC did possibly get "infected" to become a vampire. The way I look at is becoming a vampire is actually a choice at some point and once you make it you are done as a PC because they could become to powerful.
[...]

Hm. In a game where you can turn into a man-dragon if you know the right spell list at level 50, I don't believe that power argument is a valid point. Or do you impose a maximum level on your campaigns, after which there is no more progression?

No not all mad though one could become that way if they simply resist without seeking a way to get rid of the curse or infection or accepting it.

Most definitely not under the control of some evil god. You are heavily influenced by the "unlife" or whatever true evil the GM wants. What I explained was just one way to play it. But the point is the character who chooses to be a full vampire gains some kind of connection to a dark realm and their demeanor is heavily influenced by that connection. So much so that it could be a will contest that only gets harder the more they resist the temptations and or desires they will have. Basically becoming a vampire is like possessing the one ring for an extended amount of time, though you are in control you are heavily influenced, you can resist but you will eventually give in. Though if it makes more sense that you are under the control of some evil god then go with that. It is whatever suits the scenario or the campaign.

50th level spell use is something completely different and not the same as being a vampire. Even casting the spell to become a dragon is still not the same. The point is in my games vampires are evil, very much akin to the Dyari but with significant more power. If I ever wanted to run an evil campaign then I may consider letting a player (or players) get infected. But I have never had the inclination to run an evil campaign. Letting one of my players get infected in any of the campaigns would change the dynamic of the campaign or the quest. That characters demeanor would change along with their motivations and outlook on life (or the lack thereof).

These are just ideas for if I ever had to come across something like a vampire infected PC. Because at some point the character will become an NPC.  I have never had this happen nor do I plan to let it happen as a GM.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Would I GM a PC vampire, no. Why? To quote my post on the ICE FB page: "I am honestly tired of vampires as I have been since the 80's. To me, vampires are supposed to be the embodiment of evil. In my campaigns there are no such things as good vampires, if the characters ever encounter any."

So in your games, vampires are all mad, or are all under the control of an evil god? I find your later explanation not completely clear...

I have thought about what would happen if a PC did possibly get "infected" to become a vampire. The way I look at is becoming a vampire is actually a choice at some point and once you make it you are done as a PC because they could become to powerful.
[...]

Hm. In a game where you can turn into a man-dragon if you know the right spell list at level 50, I don't believe that power argument is a valid point. Or do you impose a maximum level on your campaigns, after which there is no more progression?

No not all mad though one could become that way if they simply resist without seeking a way to get rid of the curse or infection or accepting it.

Most definitely not under the control of some evil god. You are heavily influenced by the "unlife" or whatever true evil the GM wants. What I explained was just one way to play it. But the point is the character who chooses to be a full vampire gains some kind of connection to a dark realm and their demeanor is heavily influenced by that connection. So much so that it could be a will contest that only gets harder the more they resist the temptations and or desires they will have. Basically becoming a vampire is like possessing the one ring for an extended amount of time, though you are in control you are heavily influenced, you can resist but you will eventually give in. Though if it makes more sense that you are under the control of some evil god then go with that. It is whatever suits the scenario or the campaign.

50th level spell use is something completely different and not the same as being a vampire. Even casting the spell to become a dragon is still not the same. The point is in my games vampires are evil, very much akin to the Dyari but with significant more power. If I ever wanted to run an evil campaign then I may consider letting a player (or players) get infected. But I have never had the inclination to run an evil campaign. Letting one of my players get infected in any of the campaigns would change the dynamic of the campaign or the quest. That characters demeanor would change along with their motivations and outlook on life (or the lack thereof).

These are just ideas for if I ever had to come across something like a vampire infected PC. Because at some point the character will become an NPC.  I have never had this happen nor do I plan to let it happen as a GM.

Bruce, thanks for your input. It has go me thinking about subtle and not so subtle changes the PC will go through in terms of demeanor and outlook over an extended period of time as a result of corruption from power.

[Spectre771]

The way I look at is becoming a vampire is actually a choice at some point and once you make it you are done as a PC because they could become to powerful. If one does get infected they go through similar changes like have been mentioned. But the hunger and the pains worsen as time goes on.

Wow, reading this brought up a campaign early on in my gaming life.  When I was first exposed to RM, I joined in a campaign nearing the end of it's course.  One of the players had been praying to the Chaos gods and using the Chaos Dice too frequently and too happily.  Eventually he was cursed (or gifted if you worship Chaos) with becoming a Type IV Lich.  The player was all excited and had wanted to be a Lich in the worst way and was doing everything he could to achieve that end and when he did he was so excited.   Then the GM said "OK, give me your character so I can see what items you have on your person." 

Then that was it.  The Lich is was an NPC and the GM played the Lich and the rest of the party had to kill the Lich because its goal was to destroy the party and all "good" that it encountered.   That's just the nature of the Lich and of Chaos.  The look on the player's face was priceless.  Even if he didn't become the NPC, he wasn't going to live long with two paladins as travel companions.

(It was a lot funnier to be there when it happened.  Typing it out loses something.  )

The Lich was an entity of the Chaos gods and the GM controls the gods and all the NPCs associated with them.  It isn't quite the same as a Vampire, which to me has more social abilities, higher cognitive abilities, and human thought/intellect to work within society as opposed to a Lich which is near "mindless" or motive driven.  i.e.: destroy good, feed on souls, destroy more living.

I can easily see where the Vampire could be too powerful and therefore an NPC, but there are still restrictions on the abilities and spells that the Vampire can cast per level.  A level 5 vampire can't cast level 20 spells.  The human PC wouldn't be level 5, then suddenly become Level 50 Vampire upon turning?  Perhaps, upon turning, the vampire gains a couple of level.  I know the C&T books have vampires and their associated stats in them and they are quite powerful, and maybe even have the minimum level for a vampire.  Is there a level 1 vampire, or is the minimum level like level 7?  (Something I have to look up again.)  When I first started GM-ing, I would go through C&T and look for creatures that fell within a certain level range so I could get an idea of what to send against a party.

[arakish]

Some things to consider:

Is vampirism a disease or curse?
    This one you have answered.

Is it ONLY humanoid blood?  Or, any mammalian blood?  Or, could even "cold-blooded" blood work?

About the "sunlight" thing:
    Is it only "direct" sunlight (can be outside but must be in shade) or, "any" sunlight?
    Or is it a "nocturnal" thing (can ONLY be active during the night)?
    Is it "sunlight"?  Or a specific part of the spectrum (i.e. - ONLY ultraviolight light)?

Is it actually "blood"?  Or, is it the actual life force (such as the movie Lifeforce)?  Or, is it a combination?

Can a vampire be "good"?  Or, is it only an "evil" thing?

Does a vampire live?  Or, is it an undead thing?

How often must the "blood" thing be satisfied?  Once/day?  Once/week?  Et cetera.

Must the vampire drink "all" the blood?  Or, would a smaller amount, such as a liter, suffice?

Is the "making another vampire" a thing of "will" on the part of the vampire?  Or, is it spread like a disease and only being bitten makes you a vampire?  Does it require a complete draining of all blood?  Or is it a partial thing?


I did GM a player who fell in love with a vampire and chose to become one herself to be with the one she loved.

My rulings were:

• They were NOT nocturnal.  They can be active any time of the day.
• It was ONLY "direct" sunlight that caused the harm.  As long as the vampire stays in complete shade s/he was fine.  They also had to be fully clothed, preferably with hides or other impermeable "cloth", since actual cloth is somewhat translucent to sunlight (unless it is very thick).
• I also ruled it was only the "ultraviolet" part of the spectrum.  Now if only someone could invent a good sunscreen...
• Of course, the "penalty" did apply during daylight, but became a bonus during the night.
• Any "warm-blooded" blood would suffice.  No "cold-blooded" blood.
• It was only a "need" for blood, not the "lifeforce".
• I even ruled that a vampire could also gain sustenance from normal food, but still required a liter of blood at least once per 3 days.
• A vampire could be "good", but the "thirst for blood" was still viewed as being an "evil" thing.
• Once the town folk understood and realized the two vampires (he and she) were "good" and used their special abilities to aid and protect the town folk as best they could, the town folk actually came to admire and understand the vampires.  Some even became very dear friends.
• A vampire did not need to completely drain all the blood.  A liter sufficed allowing the "victim" to recuperate, taking about 10-15 days.
• Spreading vampirism is a "will" thing, meaning the vampire must "will" its victim to become a vampire, and need not drain all blood.

Well, I cannot remember more about this since it was about 30+/- years ago.

About the cloth thing.  I know cloth is translucent because I had once spent about 12-13 hours out in sunlight turning the soil in a farm plot and still got badly sunburnt on my shoulders and upper back.  After that time, I put on sunscreen everywhere, even if I was wearing clothes, and was going to spend quite a long time out in the sun.

rmfr

[Malim]

If the other PC`s arent evil.. they should cleanse him to death with fire, sticks, garlic, crosses etc

[Druss_the_Legend]

If the other PC`s arent evil.. they should cleanse him to death with fire, sticks, garlic, crosses etc

the other party members arent evil although they are mixed up with the assassins guild and a crimelord.