Vampire Questions

[DamonJynx]

1. If a Vampire is 'impaled', say with a ranged weapon, and then turns to mist, what happens to the impaling object (bolt, arrow, javelin etc)?

2. If a sorcerer casts Wrack on our undead friend when in mist form, does the spell work when it materialises into corporeal form? If the reverse, does turning into mist negate the spell when the vampire rematerialises?

 

[alex_greene]

1. The bolt falls down, passing through the mist cloud, and hits the ground.

2. It would work on the mist form, as one big single hit location. That, or you'd have to specify that Wrack specifically only works on materialised flesh.

Seriously, this looks like something that could damage a ghost or similar incorporeal being. Nothing in the spell says that it cannot.

 

[DamonJynx]

1. The bolt falls down, passing through the mist cloud, and hits the ground.

Yeah, that's what I thought and how I ruled it in our last game. The argument from the players was that the text states something like, 'any non-living matter on his person dissolves into mist', so an item impaling the creature would be on his person and therefore would dissolve into mist along with the rest of his possessions, affecting him when he turns solid again.

I'm going to houserule that bit to, "The Vampire and his possessions turn into a mist..." that will avoid any future argument on that front.

2. It would work on the mist form, as one big single hit location. That, or you'd have to specify that Wrack specifically only works on materialised flesh.

The RAW state that while in mist form the Vampire is immune to all physical damage. As this spell damages a random location the Vampire would be immune to its damage in mist form. Hence the question. I allowed it to affect the Vampire when it was in material form, but not in mist form. However, I think that if the spell is cast while the Vampire is in mist form it should be totally negated. What are other people thoughts?

If the mist form provides no real benefit other than a means of escape, then the Vampire as written is not necessarily that tough.

 

[alex_greene]

2. It would work on the mist form, as one big single hit location. That, or you'd have to specify that Wrack specifically only works on materialised flesh.

The RAW state that while in mist form the Vampire is immune to all physical damage. As this spell damages a random location the Vampire would be immune to its damage in mist form. Hence the question. I allowed it to affect the Vampire when it was in material form, but not in mist form. However, I think that if the spell is cast while the Vampire is in mist form it should be totally negated. What are other people thoughts?

If the mist form provides no real benefit other than a means of escape, then the Vampire as written is not necessarily that tough.

Physical damage, sure. Rocks, poison, fire, lightning, sharp sticks, stakes, swords, nothing enchanted or boosted by spells. Just pass right through.

Wrack is a spell. It inflicts magical damage, on practically everything not protected by some sort of magical protection or non-mundane armour, it would seem.

 

[alex_greene]

You can pretty much design your vampires the way you like them - just use the stats outlined in Monsters of Legend, or use the draugr from Vikings of Legend, or something else.

In your world vampires need not be killed by sunlight - that's a fiction concocted by movies. They might all have crippling supernatural OCD and be unable to pass by spilled salt without stopping to count the grains, or unable to pass by an untied shoelace without having to stop and tie it up.

Sunlight might not turn vampires to dust - it just puts them in torpor, robbing them of the ability to move, reducing them instantly to inanimate corpses. Watching a vampire come back to unlife the moment the last sliver of sun goes behind the hill could be like watching a glove come to life the moment a hand enters it. They might not sleep in coffins, but essentially fall where they lie the moment the sun comes up- meaning most of them will find a secure place to lie down in during the day to protect themselves.

You could give them taboos they cannot break, such as the aforementioned OCD, or an inability to cross a threshold uninvited or an inability to travel through or even touch wild roses, meaning that all a canny vampire hunter need do is just wait till daybreak, bury the creature in a coffin, bury it and then plant roses all around the vampire's resting place.

You can do all sorts of things with your vampires, if you want.

Or your vampires could be like the ones from Being Human, only afraid of a stake in the heart (which would destroy them) or getting decapitated, burnt in a fire or drinking werewolf blood.

 

[Lemnoc]

vampires need not be killed by sunlight - that's a fiction concocted by movies.

Unlike, y'know, non-fictional, real world vampires. :lol:

 

[alex_greene]

vampires need not be killed by sunlight - that's a fiction concocted by movies.

Unlike, y'know, non-fictional, real world vampires. :lol:

Like sanguinaries and energy vampires? I know hundreds of them on FetLife and CollarMe ...

 

[DamonJynx]

Physical damage, sure. Rocks, poison, fire, lightning, sharp sticks, stakes, swords, nothing enchanted or boosted by spells. Just pass right through.

Wrack is a spell. It inflicts magical damage, on practically everything not protected by some sort of magical protection or non-mundane armour, it would seem.

Ding! The light just went on. Misinterpretation of the phrase "physical damage". I took it to mean anything that causes physical damage to the creature, not caused by physical means. In that case, yes you are 100% correct Alex and the damage should be taken from the creatures general HP whilst in mist form.

Thank you.

 

[alex_greene]

Makes me wonder what a vampire would look like if she turned into mist underwater. Like a rising column of stinky green bubbles, like someone'd just done a massive bath trump.

 

[soltakss]

I have played that a vampire and the possession with which it was buried turn to mist, everything else falls to the ground.

I also have a ritual where a vampire can add things to its gravegoods. This has two advantages:

1. It gets around questions such as what happens to impaled objects.
2. It allows for a vampire to let loose minor magical items for greedy PCs to pick up. In fact, some of my vampires have some minor magical items that look flashy just so they can distract PCs while the vampire retreats through a hole in the wall.

Regarding the Wrack spell, why not? It's a very clever way to wound a vampire. In Gloranthan RQ, a Disruption spell targeted through a Death rune affected vampires in mist form, as did the Turn Undead spell, so there is form for spells affecting vampires in mist form.

Agreed that Your Vampires May Vary. In my Gloranthan games, they have to be invited in as well but they can walk about in sunlight. It messes with players' heads if they see a vampire walking around in sunlight.

 

[alex_greene]

It messes with their heads if they discover that vampires can be their Patrons and hire them to partake in adventures. Also, that they can have sorcery skills and form their own factions.

Even go on adventures themselves ...

 

[soltakss]

Even better when a vampire stalks them and takes out the bandits attacking them, to keep them safe from harm.

 

[alex_greene]

And says "Just protecting my investments ..." before fading away into mist.

 

[Da Boss]

Even better when a vampire stalks them and takes out the bandits attacking them, to keep them safe from harm.

I had a Vampire in a Warhammer game slaughter a small band of Beastmen chasing a PC so he could have a "chat" about something the Vampire needed doing........