Vampires in Steampunk

[Anonymous]

ok, i just bought the OGL steampunk book, and i have a few questions.

It looks like the vampire race was designed with Dracula in mind, but it mentions nothing in the book that i can find about stakes, garlic or running water.


secondly, whats the constitution modifier for - con? is it -5? because for the alternate form path it needs a fort save.

 

[Anonymous]

and what about holy symbols?

 

[Anonymous]

and my players have already complained about hunters not have hide, move silently, spot or listen in class, which is.... strange

 

[kiln publications]

I don't recall having seen those listed item either, BUT I am sure that if you wish to carry on with the "film/novel" versions of vampires those would definitely do some damage. Personally I have always felt that vampires should be a little stronger than having those items really harm them. I think if a vampire never had any religious affliliation in their "life before" then those religious items would do them no harm. That seems to be the case in many vampire movies post 1980's. As for the CON question hopefully the Auld Grump will have a good answer for that.
In the "Victoria's World" setting that the Auld Grump and I are working on, vampires will not be the "standard" version that you are used to....

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Someting that I bear in mind is that the Vampires available as player characters aren't full vampires, and while they don't have all the strengths of a full vampire they are more than compensated by lacking the weaknesses - and they can gain some of the powers by purchasing the appropriate talents.

The Con issue... is a bit more difficult. If you are rolling dice then roll Con as normal, but it becomes - at nightfall. (This is what I think was intended.)

For point buy... it depends. I have allowed people to ignore the trait when creating their character, but when they are mortal by day they have either a 6 or an 8 Con (I have tried both, and prefer the 6, my players prefer the 8...)

Or you can say that if they do not spend points on Con then they are dead by day, unable to move at all, and entirely vulnerable to the nice doctor with the stakes and the mallet. If I were to add the vulnerabilities to crosses, running water, consecrated ground, and holy water these would be the ones I would pick on, the ones who are dead by day, they have severed ties to their mortal selves. A wise player will put at least a few points into Con.

The idea of vampires being destroyed by daylight began with the movie Nosferatu - and Dracula had no trouble with daylight at all.

A stake through the heart while helpless will kill just about anybody, let alone vampires, as for doing it on the run so to speak... contrary to what you might think from watching Buffy vampires do not have rib cages made out of sponge cake, you need to hold them down (while he is almost certainly in undead rage) and hammer the stake home, breaking ribs as you go. Messy, and not all that easy.

I do not allow 'staking with arrows', the rules for mortal characters do not allow for it, why would a vampire be more vulnerable? And as I said, an arrow through the heart would kill just about anybody. And like the daylight vulnerability the vampire coming back once the stake is removed was created for the movies.

And for what it is worth - driving a stake through a fresh corpse will make it scream as air is forced out of its lungs, no undead state necessary for that one...:evil:

For those who want a semi-period book on vampire hunting look for Montague Summers' book The Vampire, His Kith and Kin... Summers was a self described Vampire hunter.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* I think that both Hunters and Explorers should have Hide and Move Silently, I think leaving them out was an actual mistake, not an intentional decision...

 

[kiln publications]

See I told you he would know....

 

[mthomason]

For those who want a semi-period book on vampire hunting look for Montague Summers' book The Vampire, His Kith and Kin... Summers was a self described Vampire hunter.

I have a copy of Summer's A History of Witchcraft and Demonology sitting right next to me as I type. Certainly very useful for seeing just how people thought in those times.

 

[NoBody]

I've always thought that the Con - meant that the undead didn't have a Constitution score and didn't need the fortitude saves because thier kinda well dead. They're not going to feel the effects of poison or become fatuged from walking long distances because their undead. Thats just the way I've looked at it.
I haven't yet introduced vampires into my games yet, but I'm starting to see that I've been missing out on a lot. I've always seen them as having been infected by some sort of plague. So when biting someone the plague they carry is injected into the person and that person becomes a vampire with all the draw-backs and advantages.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I've always thought that the Con - meant that the undead didn't have a Constitution score and didn't need the fortitude saves because thier kinda well dead. They're not going to feel the effects of poison or become fatuged from walking long distances because their undead. Thats just the way I've looked at it.
I haven't yet introduced vampires into my games yet, but I'm starting to see that I've been missing out on a lot. I've always seen them as having been infected by some sort of plague. So when biting someone the plague they carry is injected into the person and that person becomes a vampire with all the draw-backs and advantages.

You are correct - Con is not the same as 0 Con.

However, Vampires in Steampunk also have the following rule:

Daylight Vulnerability: When the sun rises and until it sets, the vampire loses its powers and becomes a normal human being. If it was in another shape (see Traits on page 122) it becomes locked in this form until sundown.

This is where the questions kick in, since a 'normal human being' with 0 Con is, well, dead. And since a 'normal human being' can't have a - Con arguments can arise.

The Auld Grump