Vamps
Note: The following was left on the cutting room floor and is mainly an attempt to make vampires a viable pc species:
Desmodus rotundus, picture taken at Sangayan Island, Paracas National Reserve, Departamento Ica, Peru.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Background
Long considered in the story of myth and legend, these
undead creatures have a long and twisted history in the depths of Earth's
past. Depending on your point of view, Vamps
are either blessed or doomed to live forever.
A great many tales and some bizarre superstitions have been
formed around Vamps and the trouble is the distinction between them and true
vampires. Vamps are very different from
true vampires, in that they are not quite as powerful, but do not have many of
the vulnerabilities of their monstrous cousins.
However, throughout history Vamps were usually the servant lackeys of
the true vampire nobility.
Both Vamps and vampires have a noteworthy presence in many
ancient human cultures and in the past made many travelers afraid to roam the
night. But, it is thought that sometime
in the medieval dark ages Vamps began to infiltrate human society rather than
live like wild undead bandits, with true vampires running the entire show from
behind the scenes. This Subversion of human
culture brought them closer to their prey and a complex symbiotic relationship
evolved between mortals and this undead.
Unconfirmed Vamp tales tell that this continued well into
the 21st century. Many political
parties, corporations, organizations, and criminal cartels were fronts for Vamp
families headed by elite true vampire ladies and lords that were pulling the
strings of the entire world. And for a time it was the golden age.
That is until the Times of Revelations. The majority of the Vamp populations were
decimated by the magical cataclysm as much as their human counterparts. Worse, as the Fallen Lords began to occupy
the world, the true vampire lords were forced into hiding or else face
becoming pawns of these strange necromantic beings. Vamps were left to fend for themselves for
the first time in a millennium.
Society
The unlife of a Vamp in the times of Dark Revelations is a
dangerous one. They need to travel from
place to place seeking out mortal blood to continue their existence. Smart Vamps travel in packs and try to plan
out their long existence rather than randomly raiding.
There is one place that many roaming Vamps have found they
can once again call home: the Fiend Marches.
This is one of the few areas in North America where Vamps are not only
tolerated but respected. Here their old
corporate knowhow and suave cultural sense are treasured assets. They have found niches in espionage, law, and
public relations. Some Vamps have
quickly risen on the corporate ladder to the status of CEO. Still, many Vampires find time to pursue
their other preferred career choice: playboy extraordinaire.
Relations
A civilized Vamp does seem to plan their itinerary around
humans. Humans, for the most part, fear
and hate Vamps, a natural reaction to their primary predator. Despite this, some Human settlements are
willing to sacrifice a couple of pints of blood a day to Vamps willing to
protect them against even worse horrors.
Vamps dislike Elves since the dawn of time they have stood
between Vamps and domination over the mortal world, or at least that’s what
they tell humans. On occasion, practical
alliances have been forged with fey-kind when needing to unite against a common
foe or for some shared goal…which in the case of Bogeys or Gnomes is usually
money or resource related.
Vamps consider the ever buzzing Feylins nothing more than
annoyances that can blow their cover when trying to remain subtle;
paradoxically it is the Feylin that has started the odd post-post-post-modern the trend of Vamps becoming more acceptable.
Adventuring
Vamps tend to move often.
They prefer forested and urban areas away from the direct light of day and are rarely found in deserts or the wide-open prairie. Many Vamps go incognito and can easily pass
for a normal human when need be, and a number have joined adventuring parties
without the party ever knowing. Others
are quite open about their background.
Realizing many people are willing to make a deal with the devil they
know, rather than one they don’t. As a
spy that can easily pass in and out of the Moundlands and just about anywhere
else; though of course most of their operations are at night or indoors.
Personality
Vamps are more or less human in personality and origin and
thus are complex characters. They can
feel love, hatred, and even fear. But
despite their apparent normalcy Vamps are driven by one unfortunate thing:
their thrust for blood. A well-fed Vamp can
be civil, sexy and quite intellectual. A
starved Vamp shows their true colors and becomes ravenous and rabid in demeanor
until filled.
Description
Vamps have all the normal human traits with a few
exceptions. They tend to be pale in
complexion for their particular skin tone and are slightly cold and clammy to
touch. Otherwise, they can easily pass
for human, more so than any other undead.
While there are many myths about what constitutes a Vamp
much has been mixed up with those of a true vampire. But a few things are true. Vamps have long
sharp canine teeth, the need for blood, and a nasty reaction to the sun, though
far from being as deadly as for true vampires.
Civilized Vamps enjoy gothic or flamboyant clothing,
designer business suits, high-quality leather and all the trappings of a
cosmopolitan lifestyle. Style-wise, they
are quite out of place in the midst of a post-post-apocalyptic world.
Alice Eis and Bert French in Robert G. Vignola's The Vampire 1913
Public Domain
Vamp Traits
Creature Type: You are an Undead for the purposes of
targeting
Ability Score
Increase: Increase each of your
Ability scores by 1 point each, up to their normal maximum (20).
·
Talent
Access: You gain access to the
Living Dead and Senses species talent trees.
·
Age: You typically look to be age 20 to 50, but
never otherwise age.
·
Size: Same as a human. Your size is Medium.
·
Speed:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
·
Language: You can speak, read, and write Spiritspeak,
Trade Tongue, and one language of choice.
·
Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet
of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You
can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
·
Bite: You start with a bite as a natural light
finesse weapon that does 1d6 piercing damage. You may use bite if your hands are occupied or
restrained and may even make two-weapon fighting attacks with your bite as your
off-hand/bonus attack when using a two-handed weapon in your hands.
·
Devour
Blood: See this talent under the
Living Dead species talent tree.
·
Health
and Rest: You still must rest like
your core race, with short and long rests still having their normal effect on
you. You still can suffer from
exhaustion, but instead of a purely physical effect, it is more mental or
metaphysical in nature. Old “circuitry”
in your brain still fires up to tell you that you must rest or parts of your
undead body start to seize up or even fall apart if you don’t take time to
rework them. You can still “die” like a
normal character and still must make death saving throws.
·
Radiant
Vulnerable: You gain vulnerability
to radiant damage, and any damage was done with a traditional silvered weapon.
·
Resistances
and Immunities: You gain resistance
to necrotic and poison damage. You gain
immunity to the poisoned condition, diseases, suffocation and starvation (see
thirst for blood).
·
Sun
Sensitivity: You have disadvantage
on all ability checks, saves, skills and attack rolls while exposed to sunlight
or sunlight effects. Being clearly heavily
obscured or having full cover will protect you from this effect. Note most armor and vehicles will not protect
you from this unless specifically stated.
·
Thirst
for Blood: You still may suffer from
thirst like any character.
However, you
must drink fresh blood from a beast, fey, giant, humanoid, or monstrosity
instead of water or other beverages.
Fresh blood must be no more than 24 hours old.
République de la Nuit
The above link is an attempt to integrate said Vampires into the Hodgepocalypse which is located in the former province of Quebec.
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