Re: vampires

From: ian_hammond_cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 13:52:02 -0000


Julian Lord wrote:
> The way forward, as in AR, is of course to simply write a few words
of advice in the Vampire write-up (and Vivamort "cult") on how to handle various vampiric features (blood-drinking ones frex, blood craving, etc).

I think that one huge advantage of Hero Wars is the ease of representing mythic creatures without new rules. Just list their abilites and give them a rating and then use them as flat ability against a resistance, or as an augment, in the same way you would use a players ability. A classic vampire might have Strong 5W; Burnt By Sunlight 10W; Shapeshift to Wolf 19; Immune to Unenchanted Weapons 5W; Hynpnotic Charm 9W; Drain Blood 8W etc. The drain blood attack would probably be used for a coup de grace - the follow up to a Hypnotic Charm attack.

Bram Stoker/Anne Rice vampires are a real hodge-podge of various legends. For a Gloranthan feel I prefer to draw on their antecedents. IMO for Orlanthi games draugr make better vampires than Vlad and his buddies. I did a write up of a druagr for a recent game we played:

Draugr
A draugr is created by emotions of envy, hunger, or hatred at their death and a draugr still longs for the things of life, and envies those yet alive. Insatiable hunger drives a draugr driving them to wreak vengeance on those that possess that which they lack. Draugr eat human flesh, tearing their victims limb from limb, draining their blood and consuming every last gobbet of flesh. An undead corpse swollen to twice of three times its original size, its flesh is immensely heavy, and undecaying even many years after death. Draugr have immense strength and are able to crush their victims to death. Draugr also have a variety of magical powers which can include: knowledge of the future, weather control, swimming through earth or stone, creating a temporary darkness in daylight hours to mask its approach, calling up a mist to hide its activities, and Shapechanging.
A draugr's flesh is cyanotic, the blue-black color of deeply bruised flesh. All draugr are immune to impaling weapons, for though they pass through the draugr's body, a draugr's dead organs no longer give it life. Some draugr are immune to non-runic weapons, or those not associated with death cults like Humakt. A draugr's own weapons from life, are often effective against it. A draugr's eyes burn with an unholy fire.
Like other undead, because they are not alive a draugr must be hacked into many pieces, burnt to a cinder, or otherwise completely destroyed to stop them. Therefore, draugr continue to act until reduced to -40 AP, although they suffer normal penalties for injury, to reflect severed limbs or similar damage. They do not eat or drink, never tire, and are immune to poison, disease, drowning, etc. Some draugr must be decapitated with a sword found in their barrow to stop them from reanimating again, others must be incinerated or cut into pieces put into leather sacs and cast into a large body of water. Draugr
Weapons and Armor: Close Combat 10W-10W2 (Boxing, Mighty Slap, Wrestling), Tough Skin ^5
Significant Abilities: Dodge Attack 19, Hate Living 18, Insatiable Hunger 10W, Immune to Impaling Weapons 4W2 or Immune to Unenchanted Weapons 4W2, Large 5W, Strong 10W.
Innate Magical Abilities: Cloak of Mist 4W2, Control Weather 18, Darkness in Day 5W2, See Others Wyrd 2W, Shapechanging 18, Swim Through Earth or Stone 3W2.
Tactics: Draugr attack at night or under the concealment of mist, drawn to the hearth fires where the living gathers. Sometimes a draugr rides a house, sitting astride its roof and beating its heels against the shingles, trying to knock the building apart. In combat, they prefer to get close and bear hug their victims crushing the life out of them.

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