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"Vampires" Copyright (c) 1997 Simon E. Phipp
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Cult of Vivamort
Vampire Description
Miscellaneous Notes
Famous Vampires

# Vampires

Vampires

Powers

Disadvantages

## Vampires

Standard Vampire statistics are based on the statistics of the creature before it becomes a Vampire.

STR and CON are doubled.

Move is + 1.

Bite does damage equal to the damage bonus, with a minimum of 1D3

## Powers

1. It can see in the dark.

2. It can transform itself into mist in its DEX SR + 3, and can regenerate damage in mist form at a rate of 1 hit point per round. .Any clothing, weapons, armour or magic items which were buried with the Vampire as part of the Create Vampire rite will also turn into mist. If a Vampire is damaged to 0 HP, it will automatically turn to mist and regenerate damage.

3. Whilst in mist form, a Vampire moves at a speed off 5 meters per round, cannot cast any spells and is immune to most forms of physical damage. Enchanted silver weapons can harm a Vampire in mist form, as can a sword with a Humakti Truesword spell, and the spells of Turn Undead, Madness, Fear, Sever Spirit, Disruption, Shatter and other similar spells.

Fire cannot damage a Vampire in mist form.

4. A Vampire can change into a wolf or a bat in its DEX SR + 3. These forms are used for movement and camouflage, not for combat. However, whilst in bat or wolf form, the Vampire has the defensive properties of were-creatures - in other words, they are only damaged by magic or rune weapons.

5. A Vampire may Enthral a victim. By concentrating and overcoming the victim's magic points, the Vampire causes the victim to stand or slouch helplessly, unable to react to the outside world. The effects wear off after a turn.

The Vampire can only attempt to Enthral one person per round, this counts as an attack and means that it can only parry or dodge on rounds when the Enthral is used.

If the target is engaged in melee, he may attempt a Luck Roll to avoid catching the Vampire's eye. Success means that he managed to avoid the dread glance, otherwise the Vampire may attempt to Enthral that round.

Countermagic or similar spells offer no protection against Enthral. However, if the victim were able to fight with his eyes closed, he would be unaffected by this attack.

6. A Vampire's touch allows it to drain Magic Points from a victim. If a touch hits, match the Magic Points of the Vampire against those of the victim - if the Vampire wins, it drains 1D4 Magic Points from the victim, adding them to its own. There is no effect if the vampire loses the struggle. The touch does not need to cause damage, nor even to touch the skin - it is an aura effect.

7. If a Vampire's bite penetrates armour and does damage, the Vampire may stay attached and begin to suck the victim's blood. Each round, the vampire drains 1D6 fatigue, once the victim has lost fatigue equal to his STR + CON, the Vampire begins to drain STR instead. Any STR drained in this way is lost permanently. The points drained add to the Vampire's fatigue.

8. Vampires are not susceptible to disease or poison in any form.

9. Vampires are ageless and immortal.

10. Vampires do not lose fatigue through physical exertion.

## Disadvantages

1. Vampires have no shadows, cast no reflection, and has pallid skin, dark shiny hair and prominent incisors. Vampires are fairly distinctive.

2. Vampires lose fatigue through lack of blood. Each night, the Vampire loses fatigue points equal to its magic points.

3. Vampires have no POW and cannot regenerate Magic Points. All Magic points have to be drained with its touch or via spells. Each night, a Vampire loses 1D6 Magic Points keeping its body going. For book-keeping purposes, assume that the Vampire loses its fatigue, then its Magic Points at dawn. Each day that a Vampire does not spend in its coffin lined with earth, it loses 3D6 Magic Points and Fatigue. Once it has been reduced to 0 MP, it will become comatose, unable to leave its crypt without help.

4. The Death Rune is effective against Vampires. A Vampire may not look directly at a Death Rune presented strongly by an initiate or higher in a Death Rune cult, nor may it approach such a Rune.

Contact with a strongly presented Death Rune will cause 3 points of damage direct to the Vampire in the location struck. No spells will protect against this and the damage is not regenerable in mist form.

By strongly presenting a Death Rune to a Vampire and concentrating, an initiate of a Death Rune cult will do 1D3 unregenerable damage to a random missile hit location, not stopped by spells. The initiate cannot attack with a weapon nor can he cast a spell in the round in which he uses this attack.

strongly presenting a Death Rune in this manner will not defend against rearward attacks, nor will it affect Vampires who cannot see the Death Rune. Vampires can order its followers to attack the wielder of the Death Rune. Once the wielder of the Rune stops concentrating, the Death Rune has no effect.

Any Death Rune may be used in this manner, whether it be a Humakti sword, two crossed sticks or embroidered cloth.

5. If a Vampire is reduced to zero hit points in the head or chest, it will fall unconscious to the ground and cannot turn into mist. It may attempt to be heroic to avoid this fate. If a stake is driven through its heart, its head is cut off and its body is burned, the Vampire is destroyed. If the body is not burned, the head can be restored and the stake removed and the Vampire can be brought back to "life" on the next Holy Night of Vivamort.

6. Vampires do not register on Detect Life spells. They show up on Detect Undead spells and are susceptible to the Turn Undead spell. They are identified under Second Sight or Soul Sight spells.

7. Vampires may only feed on sentients, in other words, creatures will real and not fixed INT. They may not feed from other undead.

8. The Sun's Curse

Vampires lose all their special abilities, except for the doubled STR and CON when under daylight or Sunbright. These abilities are not lost in daytime, a Vampire must actually be in the presence of daylight to lose the abilities.

9. The Curse of Fire

A Vampire cannot regenerate while in mist form from damaged caused by fire.

10. The Curse of Air

Air elementals can disperse the mist form of a Vampire. The vampire cannot coalesce again for a number of hours equal to the STR of the sylph. Elemental Air does not constrain Vampires as strongly as other elements because Vivamort stole some of Air's powers during the GodTime. the Storm Gods and their worshippers despise Vivamort because of this.

11. The Curse of Earth

Every Vampire carries at least a handful of his burial earth in his coffin, symbolising his victory over the grave.

The Earth Powers are not pleased with this desecration of their element. Should the Vampire lose all his funeral earth (he may have several coffins prepared) he begins to lose his powers one per day. The powers are lost randomly, but the Vampire will not know which are lost until it tries to use the power. The doubled STR and CON are never lost. Since the coffin is incomplete, the Vampire will also lose 3D6 Magic Points and fatigue each day, as if it was not lying in state. A Vampire may reverse this by gaining more burial earth from its grave.

Several Earth cults have sacred burial tools, usually shovels, used in burial rites. These do unregenerable damage to the vampire, in the same manner as fire.

12. The Curse of Water

A Single drop of Styx water touching a Vampire will annihilate it.

All the waters of the world took up the vow of Styx. Water is a prime enemy of Vivamort, and Vampires travel by water precariously.

No Vampire may cross running water except by bridge, boat, on the back of another etc. Total immersion in running water destroys a vampire. Vampires may cross or live in swamps or marshes with impunity. Waha left the taint of the Devil in the marshes of the Good River, and that taint allows Vampires access to all such areas.

Special Holy Water, blessed by Priests of certain Water Cults, has great effect on Vampires. When this pure and holy water is sprinkled on the grave earth of a Vampire, the earth loses its potency. The Vampire may not cross this holy water, even if it is but a thin film on the ground, the doorway or whatever. A vial of this pure water, applied to the Vampire's person, causes 1D6 unregenerable damage to the Vampires body.

13. Dendara's Curse

Dendara, The Wife of the Sun and an Earth Goddess in her own right, took up both causes against Vivamort and cursed him herself. As she is goddess of the Hearth, her curse means that a Vampire may not cross a threshold unless invited across. This means that Vampires cannot attack communities with impunity, although once invited across, the Vampire need never be invited again. Some Vampires have initiates break into houses and invite them in just to negate this curse.