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Gaming Outpost Discussions » Tag: vampires - Recent Topics http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/tags/vampires Gaming Outpost Discussions » Tag: vampires - Recent Topics en-US Thu, 24 May 2012 11:17:11 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/search.php Tadeusz on "Verser Vampire" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/verser-vampire#post-1188 Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:34:18 +0000 Tadeusz 1188@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ Happily, I'm maybe 85%, and my cough is sorta under control without having to mainline Vicks 44D benzocaine throat drops. I didn't laugh when they said 'only once every two hours', and 'don't exceed dose', but that might have been because laughing would have brought on a coughing fit of several minutes. Anyways, in my current RPOL game, one of the villains is Devlin Smith, the Verser Vampire. Obviously, to long-term Outposters, he's inspired by Gavin from Philly 2011 as I didn't want to do a straight rip on Gavin. Devlin Smith aka Maurice Lancaster as he was christened in 1805 in Yorkshire was an unremarkable lad known for pub-drinking and petty clerical work until one night he met a beautiful woman who seemed interested in him. Not questioning his luck, he followed her outside the pub. "I do so love a good drink of beer." She murmured, and he turned perplexed in his drunken state back to the pub from whence beer came. She ambushed him from behind, bit him, and began to have her supper with a beer. He might have been just another victim of the cold winter, a poor drunk who lost his way in the alleys, and froze to death, but a cry of a bugle was heard. The Wild Hunt was in the air, and seeking those alone, and no one is more alone than a vampire. Vengefully, she ripped out his throat, and then she took a crossbow quarrel to the chest. He fell dying. She fled, but not before a fatal drop of blood from her chest hit his open throat. A question swam in that blood as it penetrated to his dying brain. *Do you want to live?* He gasped assent. *Forever?* He agreed. *Then swear eternal fealty to the Six Beasts Who Sit in Shadow and Gnaw at the Roots of Heaven. Swear that they alone are your master, and none other shall stand before your imperial will.* He paused, dimly realizing that Sunday School did not equate with this. But he had found the notions of sin to be silly, anyways. "I swear." He spoke from his newly healed throat, and then he rose as his new patrons cloaked him from the Wild Hunt which clattered by. A new clarity of purpose filled him. He could do as he wished without constraint. He would give the freedom of mind and soul that he now felt to everyone who labored under the dark superstitions of the Protestants, the Catholics, and the Baptists. And to the chosen few, he might give the gift of true power. And for himself, he would make himself unassailable. And somewhere in a twisted and barren section of the oververse, maniac giggling greeted his grand plans, but he could not hear it. And so he ruled in the north of England for well over a century until one time he met a man who sought for him, laughed at his threats, evaded his traps, and finally met him atop a manor with a sword that was impossible. The redheaded, almost child, with the crystal cold blue eyes evaded his strikes, and swung a sword made of light. "I am immortal." Devlin cried (for he had changed his name on that snowy night of doom). "So am I, and I didn't have to sell my soul and the sun for it." The blade chopped his wrists off, and Devlin stared in horror as the blade came at his heart. He lunged forward in insane fury, and bit the man, Captain Chris. And he died. And woke in another world. Under the sun. He died again, and again. He thought he was in Hell. He woke in night, and was safe. He lived, but it was the year 2290. And no vampires walked the night. His powers were faded. But he could feed, and he found in his extensive researches in the 'Internet' a reference to the 'Verse Project'. And then he began to understand what had happened to him. Unfortunately, the trail of bodies of the most infamous serial killer of the 22nd century was being followed by advanced science. And when he refused to surrender, they fired their UV laser blasters at him. It was over very quickly. Three more worlds (or eleven if you count the ones where he arrived, and was shortly burnt by the sun, or in one case by a giant, four-footed Magical Sentinel Beast made of square-dressed stone that breathed sunlight and guarded the passageways between worlds), and he has started to get the hang of things. Unfortunately, in his last world he met a Hawaaian shaman who figured out his true nature, and could not figure out a way to permanently kill him. But the shaman did curse him before summoning a volcano's fire to burn him. The curse was that he only could wear a tanktop and Hawaian shorts. This bothers Devlin as he really is a suit and tie kind of guy. And now he's ready to arrive in your world, and make a complacent verser unhappy. Persuasion 2@1 Charisma 1@8 Animal Magnetism 1@7 Strength 2@6 Stamina 2@5 Resistance 2@1 Density 1@3 Flexibility 1@6 Agility 1@10 Hand/Eye 1@8 Intellect 1@8 Intuition 1@7 Education Level 2@1 Willpower 1@9 Target Value 1@7 Damage Value 1@10 Ranged Strike Value 1@8 Martial Strike Value 2@1 Damage Rider: If a Fire or Sunlight attack hurts him, it automatically adds a non-blocked Lethal damage rider as the fire burns unnaturally in his corrupt flesh. I'm not quite sure how to do this in Multiverser. In Champions, it would be a Vulnerability probably. Always on, Does 2d6 Killing Damage or something like that. I'm also not sure if this works in a low magic world...could he walk in the sun in a flatlined magic world? Cursed: Must wear Hawaian shorts and tanktop at all times. May not cover them. Failure causes Difficult Stamina checks. Failure to pass stamina checks causes painful convulsions that increase in severity until the clothes are put on, or the Vampire breaks something vital in his convulsions. This curse may not hold in a low-magic world, but the shaman who cast it (anyone got a good Hawaaian name?) was very powerful, clever, and quite angry at Devlin. The curse retakes effect once he passes into a magical world. However, Devlin is not aware that he would be safe in a non-magic world from the curse. Skills: 1. Heal Self with Excess Blood: Body 2. Move Superfast by Expending Blood:1@7. Body 3. Drink Up: 2@1. Body. Bite does Annoying Damage. Each turn he does Dangerous Damage until victim is dead. Victim is held, and physical escape is at a -10 DR due to difficult position. 4. Paralyze Victim with Sedative in Fangs:2@1. Body. Victim must make Difficult Willpower check to resist. This skill may be used as a rider for #3. Occasionally Devlin doesn't as he likes to hear them scream. 5. Immunity to own Sedative.: 2@5. Body. His body is immune to his own sedative. 6. Dominate Will by Eye Contact: 1@9. Magic 7. Animate Corpse: 2@7. Magic. This applies to his own self, or to raising other vampires. It requires the near complete draining of the new vampire, their mental assent to the Six's plans, and a drop of his blood. For himself, it requires that he hunt daily, and sacrifice one to the Six, and that he renew his pledge daily. 8. Shoot .38 Revolver: 2@7. Tech. He is an extraordinary shot who trained in one world with Capone's gangs as a gunman. 9. Use Gold Knobbed Cain as Club: 1@8. Tech. Items: 1. Tank top. 2. Hawaiian Shorts. 3. A metal flask with liquid nitrogen cooling that contains an emergency supply of concentrated essence of blood that is enough to refill him. However, he cannot make more. 4. A leather bag of 8 gold marks, 4 silver dinarii, and a few -3- diamonds of one carrot size. 5. A .38 revolver, and thrirty rounds of hardball ammunition (six are in the gun, and the others are tied into the waistband of his shorts. Damaging: Repeat Factor 3: 3'/10'/20'/40'/60'. 6. No shoes. 7. A walking stick with a gold knob on the end. Damaging: No range: RF 2 (Annoying if the knob end is not used.) Its not entirely done, but close... Tadeusz on "Completed Vampires" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/completed-vampires#post-2336 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:32:41 +0000 Tadeusz 2336@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ This is a thread for vampires that have been totally completed, and are waiting upon Wodiums editorial/integrative skills. Faux Devlin Smith--Verser Vampire Sir Richard Dawkins--Wholly Magical Vampire Psi-kin Tidbits scenario Juicer Mad Scientist Vampire--The Weeping Woman Gavin-Marcoe's Variant Vampire Weeds ======================================================================================= The Juicer Plague, or Vampire Plague turns normal woodland creatures into plant juice suckers of ravenous intensity, and shocking amounts. The animals grow in size, and swell....until near the end they get overwhelmed with a desire to bite other animals (thus spreading the disease), and then they explode throwing disease tainted gore in a wide circle. They leave behind them fields of crippled plants. If a wolf were to eat a plague suffering rabbit, the wolf would be infected as well. If such a creature were to bite a human, the human would not be infected (except if certain conditions of a dual-genomic nature became active.) The virus is strictly for attacking plants, but it has a dual-genomic structure (which probably means that some clueless folks in this world are going to yell 'its mutated'). In a dessert environment without enough plant matter, it shifts its targets to animals and people. Its gene structure has two expressions that are equally valid, and which one is active is determined by the presence of sufficient amounts of foilage which is its preferred diet. To avoid infection, a bit animal must make a Simple Resistance check. For every additional bite the Juicer or Vampinimal, gains a +4 penalty to their dice roll. An animal contacting the gore after an explosion must make a Simple check -3. Infected creatures get a plus @2 to their strength. They dislike bright lights, and tend to stay in the shade during the afternoon hours. One infected creature can on average destroy a hundred square yards of crops or lawn in a ten minute period. This is a ten yard by ten yard space, about the size of a suburban front lawn. Woodland is one-half to one-fourth the speed depending on tree size and density of trunks. On average, they find a new 'recruit' every thirty minutes. After each ten minute period, roll a Resistance Simple Check. Failure means the creature loses a stamina mark. When Stamina reaches 0@5, the creature explodes. Lower Key Variant: ================== A lower-key, more insidious form of the plague could be exactly the same minus the parts about explosive death and herbivores biting other animals. The herbivores would still die (exhaustion, probably), and the plague would still spread up the food chain. It would be somewhat slower acting because of the absence of two out of three vectors (bite from infected animal, infected gore, biting infected animal), but the root cause of the plague would be less obvious, and thus a recurrence of the plague after the crisis had supposedly passed would be more likely. =================== If a diabolically minded (or otherwise) verser were to get his hands on a strain of this virus, it will help the referee to know that it is a T 12@8 Mutagenic Virus. Tadeusz on "Vampire Weeds" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/vampire-weeds#post-1320 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:59:23 +0000 Tadeusz 1320@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ The title has to do with the ease that these vampires spread, and the ease with which they are whacked, and notthing, Nothing I say with a bad pun on Josh Wheedon's name. Newbie Vampire He's been operating for a decade perhaps. Once he was a normal person, and then a vampire bit him. He died. One night later, the daemon that possessed his body animated his corpse, and altered his physiology slightly. The Vampire still calls 'himself' by his old name because the being that took him was so debased as to not have a personality. The Fingerlings as they are sometimes called are some of the most despised of the Darkness. They were entities that stood near the Throne, but they Fell so far, so fast that they lost any semblance of true reason. In some worlds, these are Moaning Spirits (cousins to the degraded things sometimes called Willowisps in evil lands, and Skullfire in other worlds. They all are ghastly light, and pain, and yearning for what they don't know.) They serve whatever stronger will can compel them for they lack much of true sentience although they desire it desperately. However, they are still able to copy the brain patterns of a dead human, and gain back some of what they had. And in certain worlds, the 'vampire' ritual magic is used frequently so they shuffle back and forth between the Wastelands (a tortured and barren stretch of a Border Supernatural of Anarch origin) and whatever reality summoned them as they are summoned, and then frequently killed by vampire-slayers, and then re-summoned again with no memory of the previous time. The apparent result to a normal person in normal reality to a vampire biting another human is "My good friend" went completely stone pschyo after looking like they died. Persuasion 1@5 Animal Magnetism 1@7 (The willfulness and dominance makes an ordinary person a little something more.) Charisma 1@7 (They don't sweat, and they typically have time to learn how to dress. If not, there are plenty of older vampires ready to rip their spine out for fashion faux pas.) Strength 2@1 (Now they begin to shine.) Stamina 2@1 (Being dead means you don't have to pant for breath.) Resistance 1@3 (Yes, they are worse than ordinary humans.) Density 1@2 (A bit of rigor mortis seems to be permanent.) Flexibility 1@8 (Again, they can make the body do what it ordinarily would complain about doing.) Agility 1@7 (A little practise at killing over the last decade helps.) Hand/Eye 1@6 (As above.) Intellect 1@4 (They are typically just a touch slow. The rigidity of death makes them mentally not so flexible, or quick on the uptake.) Intuition 1@4 (As above.) Education Level 1@8 (A lot of them are in high school, or recently graduated and gone clubbing.) Willpower 1@8 (Well, planning to live for centuries, and killing people right and left does take some moxie.) TV 1@3 DV 1@6 RSV 1@5 MSV 1@7 Note: This is supposed to be someone relatively quick to be dispatched. He's supposed to be able to be lethal, but at the same time....quickly killed. Older vampires have greater attributes, and more general skills. I'll deal with the skills later... Eric Tadeusz on "Gavin the Vampire--David Marcoe's Variant" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/gavin-the-verser-vampire-david-marcoes-variant#post-1499 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:06:05 +0000 Tadeusz 1499@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ One of the beauties of the Multiverser system is that it fully justifies having the same character, but with multiple variants across similar, but not identical timelines. And these variants can add a lot of interest, and uncertainty for the player. And they can hit an unwary player like a rabbit punch out of the blue. Maybe your tough-as-nails dragon-killing, star pilot, and sidekick to a superhero verser is not impressed by being hunted across an island by a madman out for sport. Make that madman a werewolf, or in light of this thread--a vampire, and things change radically. When your 'inescapable' booby trap is evaded by the vampire turning to a bat, and flying above the logs rolling like an avalanche down a hill--then you will know fear and dismay. When you realize that the Great White Hunter with the hounds is really the Fanged Death and the hounds are from Hades, then shock will war with terror in your mind. Lets see another set of variants. In one world, Gavin and his vampiric cohorts struggle to corrupt Humanity from Philadelphia in the year 2011. In another world...well, wait and see. Marcoe's Variant ================ **note: this vampire is not a verser. Gavin had been a Communist subversive in the US in the 1930s, feeding intelligence to Stalin. He wrote small-time detective fiction which would not have been published except his editor was also a Communist. He joined the CPUSA, sided with the Nazi's until Hitler betrayed Stalin, and invaded Russia. The day after that he joined the cry of the Right in the US to 'do something about Hitler NOW!' Hitler had attacked the Motherland, and Gavin had received his marching orders from the chiefs of the CPUSA. And they were the sort of people who caused 'accidents' to happen if you displeased them. Fearful, Stalin struck up a deal with a ring of Leningrad based Russian vampires. He supplied them anonymity and protection for their international network, unique resources, and the opportunity to gain "super soldiers" and spies by having them turned. In return, they were supposed to use these for Stalin's benefit. In the meantime, Gavin had been drafted into the US Army. Gavin was the only American chosen, as he was already an off-duty bartender at the largest nightclub in Manchester, Britain which in this timeline anyways had a large Army base. He got notice by passing information gleaned off-duty soldiers and civilian employees, and even bringing a couple into an ad hoc spy ring he set up to impress his Soviet bosses. Once turned, though, he was with the vampires, not the Soviets, which the vampires knew all along would happen. And thus it was to every spy they turned. The vampires extended their own network and infiltrated the Soviet regime. Thus allowing the vampies to pull the strings and protect themselves even further. Gavin continued to feed information, and began using his abilities to infiltrate the base directly. He gathered even more valuable information and positioned himself to demand a "pay raise." They agreed, and quite gladly, as what he was supplying them they weren't getting anywhere else. Flush with cash and vampiric abilities, he bought the nightclub and offered as a secure meeting place to local crime bosses (who did a healthy business in gun-running, being near an Army base), along with further protection for their operations. He was true to his word, though he was careful to gather sensitive information from them to protect himself and put them over a barrel, so he could take a slice of their business. With in a matter of months, he was now the head crime boss of the region as the war finally ended. There had been the matter of blackmailing a general, and killing a too inquisitive captain to avoid D-day, but that was a small matter for one of his abilities. For several years he kept supplying valuable intel to the Soviets and using the money to expand his criminal empire. He also spent time building up a private army of ghouls and a network of spies and informants. About this time, he began challenging his Russian masters openly. They tipped off a couple of vampire hunters in his area to send a warning to him. When he didn't back down, then sent their best ghoul assassin, "The Cossack." The Cossack had been recruited, and en-ghouled (a magical transformation process giving great length of life, and power, and corruption, but not neccessarily damnation) during the Napoleonic wars, while serving in a Cossack calvary unit. From that point, he served as a mercenary in every major European conflict through the end of the 1940s, taking the opportunity to recruit other soldiers into his masters' ranks, either as vamps or ghouls. By this time, Gavin had partnered with an American vampire hoodoo mage who brought his own ghouls with him, in particular, the head of his personal guard, who was an Indian scout turned back in the late 1860s. After his master was killed shortly after his turning, he also plied his trade as a mercenary, serving in dozens of bush wars before coming into the mage's employ. The Cossack came over with a group of handpicked men, very nearly succeeded, but was intercepted and dispatched by the by the Indian ghoul. This sparked a full scale war between Gavin and the Russians, which he quickly gained victories in, but there was ebb and flow in the conflict over the decades, and subsequent battles cost him dearly. After his organization had reached a zenith in the 1970s, having killed several members of the Russian vampire inner circle, the Russians struck back hard, changing from their careful and secretive tactics to messy attritional warfare. Each victory was simply followed by more attacks and the outer edges of his organization began to fray. By the end of the 1980s, and the fall of the Soviet Union, he had lost nine/tenths of his organization, but the Russian vamps had lost the political patronage that they come to rely on, along with a severe disruption of their financial resources. Being both exhausted from the forty-year war, they came to a truce. Gavin the Vampire ================= Persuasion: 2@2 - Having run a criminal empire for seven decades means that people listen to him and his orders get followed. Charisma: 2@2 - Aided by his inhuman nature, his experience with coaxing secrets and making allies leaves him with a polished image. Animal Magnetism: 2@1 - Less practiced than other vampires, in seventy years he has still made thorough use of his supernatural sex appeal to bed many women (and a few men). Strength: 2@10 - It is beyond that of any normal human. Stamina: 2@10 - The undead do not normally tire. Resistance: 3@1 - Normally immune to any disease or poison, only radiation has a moderate effect (by attacking the flesh directly), but can be healed by his vampiric abilities. Density: 1@3 Flexibility: 2@1 Agility: 1@10 - The hundreds of men who have died by his own hand means that he has learned to kill with ease. Hand/Eye: 1@10 Intelligence: 1@10 Intuition: 2@2 - Decades of experience have taught him to trust his gut and he is rarely wrong. Willpower: 2@1 - Gifted with a vampire's predatory nature, he loathes to give up his quarry. Education Level: 2@4 - Seventy years of having his hands in so many pots means that he knows quite a bit about a lot of things. TV 1@8 DV 2@6 RSV 2@1 MSV 2@4 Skills: Gavin is a rebel against Lawful Authority and Purity. Therefore symbols of Lawful Authority and Purity repel him. He has to make a Difficult Willpower check to approach them. Wedding Dresses, Holy Water, and Garlic all act as attacks on contact. Respectively, they do Damaging, Dangerous, and Annoying with Damage Rider of Pain Incapacitation vs. Simple Willpower for all of them. Gavin is permitted a Resistance check to avoid damage, however with Holy Water, he still take Damaging damage. This is a natural effect, and requires no skill roll. Sunlight is similar. It does Fatal damage every six rounds, but there is no pain incapacitation. In this case, the Sun is a symbol of Lawful Authority, and Purity. Clear streams, home thresholds, and church property lines all act as barriers. The strength of the barrier is based on a relative success roll between respectively 1. the nearest neighbour to the stream 2. the homeowner 3. the pastor with the defender having a +20 Situation Modifier. The roll is based on Religion skill. Any Alliance Magic attack that does actual damage does a Lethal damage rider intrinsic. Writing Psi Skill at 2@1. Use Teeth to Drink: Bod Skill at 2@5. It starts out as Damaging, but with a 2@ skill it shifts up to Dangerous, and Strength is more than 1@10 so the total attack damage is Dangerous + 5 Damage Point Bonus. Shapeshift to Bat: Mag Skill at 2@1. Low-Light Vision: Bod Skill at 2@7. Heal Self: Mag Skill at 2@1. Animate Self: Mag Skill at 2@8. This spell is cast on the night preceding the rise. Without it, the vampire will not be able to rise the next day. It requires 1--Coffin (+3 and +2 for bulky), 2--Native Earth in Coffin (+5),3-- Blood of a Human in Body (+7 which is destroyed X2 for +14 for Blood). It must be cast laying down with full body involvement, and arms crossed over chest (+15). 4--It requires eight hours of waiting after it is cast before the animation takes effect (+10). Tadeusz on "Vampire Tidbit" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/vampire-tidbit#post-1950 Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:39:46 +0000 Tadeusz 1950@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ You'll see that this is a tidbit in more ways than one. Long Month of Doom, Month of Waiting ==================================== Verser arrives in a world where a vampire and his children raged out of control. Each one infected one more each night. Day One: The First Vampire. Day Two: Two Vampires. Day Three: Four Vampires. Day Four: Eight Vampires. Day Five: 16 Vamps. Day Six: 32 Vamps. Day Seven: 64 Vamps. Day Eight: 128 Vamps. Day Nine: 256 Vamps. Day Ten: 512 Vamps. Day Eleven: 1024 Vamps. Day Twelve: 2048 Vamps. Day Thirteen: 4096 Vamps. Day Fourteen: 8192 Vamps. Day Fifteen: 16,384 Vamps. Day Sixteen: 32,768 Vamps. Day Seventeen: 65,536 Vamps. Day Eighteen: 131,072 Vamps. Day Nineteen: 262,144 Vamps. Day Twenty: 524,288 Vamps. Day Twenty-One: 1,048,576 Vamps. Day Twenty-two: 2,097,152 Vamps. Day Twenty-three: 4,194,304 Vamps. Day Twenty-four: 8,388,608 Vamps. Day Twenty-Five: 16,777,216 Vamps. Day Twenty-Six: 33,554,432 Vamps. Day Twenty-Seven: 67,108,864 Vamps. Day Twenty-Eight: 134,217,728 Vamps. Day Twenty-Nine: 268,435,456 Vamps. Day Thirty: 536,870,912 Vamps. Day Thirty-One: 1,073,741,824 Vamps. Day Thirty-Two: 2,147,483,648 Vamps. Day Thirty-Three: 4,294,967,296 Vamps. Day Thirty-Four: Six Billion, and not everyone got to party that night. Day Thirty-Five: Hunger Pangs. Day Thirty-Six: Hatred as Vamps find there is no more prey, and they can't prey on each other. Day Thirty-Seven: Excruciating Pangs, and Murder. Day Thirty-Eight: Vampires due to lack of blood go to sleep. Day Fourty-five: Green grasses are growing across intersections. Day Sixty: Verser arrives full of nice tasty blood which six billion or so vampires can smell.... The verser sees an empty world with some corpses as he arrives in daylight. Weeds sprout in the streets. A newspaper tells of a riot. Another newspaper tells of the Air Force running out of napalm to control the 'Spread'. Piles of garbage that has been burnt, and some flung about still burning fill an area near an alley. Some graffitti on a wall shrieks out "The HUnger!". Night falls. If the verser is very resourceful, he survives to midnight. Variants: 1. What about the animals? Are they drinkable? If they are, then the vamps survive a bit longer as they exterminate the animals of Earth. 2. Can the animals be turned? 3. This version assumes that vampires cannot feed on vampires. However, if they can, then the population will be markedly less as predator hunts predator. And there will be signs of small-scale, but very brutal warfare throughout the city. 4. How did the original vampire come to be? Was this creature a verser who arrived, and then destroyed a whole planet for amusement's sake, and to make a statement about how Good does not exist? 5. Will the verser get a chance to meet the First Vampire? Perhaps after the verser is trapped somewhere? That way, both sides can have a nice chat before the slaughter. 6. The magic bias is dependent on what type of vampires these creatures are. And Tidits...well, this is a short world setting, and the verser is just a tiny morsel, a tidbit to the feeders in the night. Tadeusz on "Juicer Plague Vamps" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/juicer-plague-vamps#post-1831 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:14:04 +0000 Tadeusz 1831@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ The Juicer Plague, or Vampire Plague turns normal woodland creatures into plant juice suckers of ravenous intensity, and shocking amounts. The animals grow in size, and swell....until near the end they get overwhelmed with a desire to bite other animals (thus spreading the disease), and then they explode throwing disease tainted gore in a wide circle. They leave behind them fields of crippled plants. If a wolf were to eat a plague suffering rabbit, the wolf would be infected as well. If such a creature were to bite a human, the human would not be infected (except if certain conditions of a dual-genomic nature became active.) The virus is strictly for attacking plants, but it has a dual-genomic structure (which probably means that some clueless folks in this world are going to yell 'its mutated'). In a dessert environment without enough plant matter, it shifts its targets to animals and people. Its gene structure has two expressions that are equally valid, and which one is active is determined by the presence of sufficient amounts of foilage which is its preferred diet. To avoid infection, a bit animal must make a Simple Resistance check. For every additional bite the Juicer or Vampinimal, gains a +4 penalty to their dice roll. An animal contacting the gore after an explosion must make a Simple check -3. Infected creatures get a plus @2 to their strength. They dislike bright lights, and tend to stay in the shade during the afternoon hours. One infected creature can on average destroy a hundred square yards of crops or lawn in a ten minute period. This is a ten yard by ten yard space, about the size of a suburban front lawn. Woodland is one-half to one-fourth the speed depending on tree size and density of trunks. On average, they find a new 'recruit' every thirty minutes. After each ten minute period, roll a Resistance Simple Check. Failure means the creature loses a stamina mark. When Stamina reaches 0@5, the creature explodes. Lower Key Variant: ================== A lower-key, more insidious form of the plague could be exactly the same minus the parts about explosive death and herbivores biting other animals. The herbivores would still die (exhaustion, probably), and the plague would still spread up the food chain. It would be somewhat slower acting because of the absence of two out of three vectors (bite from infected animal, infected gore, biting infected animal), but the root cause of the plague would be less obvious, and thus a recurrence of the plague after the crisis had supposedly passed would be more likely. Tadeusz on "Types of Vampires" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/types-of-vampires#post-1447 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:02:08 +0000 Tadeusz 1447@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ Types of Vampires: 1. Faux 2. Weeds (need to make a note in the creation that they can spread very fast), and need to add more details for the higher level ones, and probably skills such as 'biting' for the lower level template already created. Demonically possessed dead body. 3. Devlin: Magico-Body Vampire (Probably need to rewrite the nature of the vamp to make it able to be a verser). 4. Dawkins: Purely Magical Vampire 5. Psi-Kin and the Lifesuckers (I just started working on these). 6. Wodium's Wamphyres or Body Based Vampires 7. Need a potentially redeemable vampire, and its type. 8. Alien species vamp would be nice (Wraith on Stargate: Atlantis are one such.) 9. Mechanical vampire 10. Fallen Incarnate (as Falling Perhaps, and as Fully Fallen). With all this gathered together, that should offer enough for a Vamps R-us. A few notes: Mechano-Vamp: In all the alternate dimensions where Dar Koni and Darleek (I'm not looking them up now...way too late) try to kill each other...in this dimension a light cruiser of Dar Koni origin jumps a colony ship of the praying mantis enemy in Sol System. Its headed elsewhere, but the Dar Koni don't want a colony on their flank. Things go badly for both sides, but worse for the cruiser. It still has maneuverrability,a nd it lands on Earth. The colonizer lands later on the Moon. The Dar Koni recruit the Earthlings with tales of evil aliens and offering new tech. The Mantis's know this will happen,a nd know they have to attack. They can't let Earth be turned to Dar Koni use especially when to both their surprises (the aliens that is), Earthlings turn out to be good at this stuff. War picks up between the Earth and the Moon. Eventually, the Mantis's try to drop asteroids on Earth to kill it off, but the Dar Koni knew this would happen,a nd defenses are prepared. This finally convinces Earth to go all out. The Mantis ship has built colony domes on Luna, and is building factories, and clone warriors. It sends invasion forces, and they get chopped up by the new human cyborgs. So the Mantis send their best armed with new D-guns. Its a desperate fight. And thats where we leave them. For the D-guns are weapons that disintegrate by collapsing the local structure of space-time. Extremely deadly, but then the Mechanovamps are deadly. Occasionally a botch in these new weapons occurs, and the target gets dumped into another universe. This hardly bothers the Mantis even if they knew. The end result is to drop a killer cyborg from a deadly war against aliens into a normal world. The Mechanovamps are stronger, faster, more durable than a human. They have puncture tubing in their mouths to draw out the fluid of a target. They can use this to access data from a computer, draw up gasoline to power their engines, or bring in new fresh blood because their old blood gets rapidly polluted. They have hard-wired 'survive at all costs' commands built in to their computer adjuncts to their brains. Lady of Sorrow or Sarah Sarah is an angel. She is on the verge of Falling. As her decision is in some sense outside of Time, her arrival on a Earth is at her whim. So her Fall from Grace is not completed yet even thousands of years after most have done so. Its possible for the verser to convince her to go back to her Heaven before she makes the irrevocable choice outside of Time. Before her desire to be even more glorious than she already is overwhelms her good sense. She is Veiled as she walks the world, but she's obviously trying to talk herself into becomaing a 'Bad Girl'. ============================= Lady of Sorrows is for when she's already made the evil choice. Sarah has incarnated permanently. Sarah has Fallen. And she has lost much of her power. She has torn off her wings,a nd can no longer cross the dimensional boundaries,a nd ascend to Heaven. Nor can she fly. But, she is the most powerful being on the planet by a long shot. And she's been here a long time, several thousand years. Because after she failed to be turned, she went to another world, early in its Creation, and Fell. She does drink blood because its one of the few ways to approach the rush of the Glories is to feel the lifeblood beneath her hands as the target dies. At one time, she felt the Glories like sun on her skin. Now, she couldn't stand their presence. But at the same time, she needs that feeling of attention and joy and love. Killing innocents is a poor substitute, but it'll do. Its like how some people need a feeling of power, they need power, and so they take cocaine to give them a feeling of power. She continues to Fall. Her greatness diminishes century by century. At one time, she could have juggle dthe Sun in the palm of her hand. Now, she can't bear its light as it sits in judgment on her. She has given of her self to make lesser beings called vampires. Loneliness eats away at her. But they offend her with thier greed,adn ambition,a nd she destroys them. This happens several times ove r the millenia--these Reigns of the Dead are known as bad times....the last one occurred during the Black Plague. But their seems to be evidence that she's trying it again....the Century of Slaughter filled with Nazi's and Communists and mountains of the dead seems to have been inspired by some of her creations. In this world, there are those who worship the Christ, but there are also many who have small shrines to the Lady of Sorrows who is full of self-pity and unbending anger against Heaven. The Lady who cannot admit she made a mistake. There is some speculation among a very few that she can be redeemed. After all, she has taken on a body, immortal though it be. Most think her a spirit entity,and not actually a breathing component of their life. Most of those who do realize that the ancient tales have large grains of truth in them think her inescapably evil, and in need of destruction. Others think she will only die at the Battle of Armageddon. Some think that a prophecy of a 'woman who holds a sword in her hand, and stands against the Great King for two strokes of his sword before falling to her doom.' (which is in an apocryphal text not accepted as canon) is referring to her. Others think that this refers to the evil, end-time church. Still others say 'apocrypha' and scoff which is a good position since their are other eminently false bits of prophecy in the Testimony of the Seven Witnesses. Some think that the Testimony was created by her as propaganda so that no one would attack her since she is 'invulnerable until Armageddon' or so goes the logic. Tadeusz on "Fallen Vampire" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/fallen-vampire#post-1833 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:45:58 +0000 Tadeusz 1833@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ Sarah aka Lady of Sorrows aka The Shining Mirror of He Who Is aka Mirror of Glory aka Gloriel aka Sarnark the Horrid Mirror ======================================================================================= Gloriel ======= She will not be statted except to say any ability she has should be regarded as 3@10 SAL, and 2@10 BRA unless the character list below is higher. Her abilities at full-measure include juggling stars, flying the length of the galaxy in an hour, passage to Heaven or any other dimension of the Deep Eternity or Space/time that she wishes. She has enough power to destroy a solar system in twenty minutes. The system will not be wholly destroyed at that time as it takes time for light from a supernova to fly out to the edge of a solar system and boil a planet to gas. She is largely invulnerable to mortal weapons that are not at least Annihilative. Her vocation is to reflect the Glory of the Father about Heaven. As such, she hovers in the third ring about Him when on duty. Sarah ===== Persuasion 2@5 Animal Magnetism 3@6 (She typically Veils it to 2@7). Charisma 3@1 (She typically Veils it to 2@5). Strength 2@10 Resistance 3@3 Density 1@6 Stamina 3@4 Agility 3@2 Hand/Eye 3@5 Flexibility 2@5 Intelligence 3@1 Intuition 2@4 Willpower 3@10 Education Level 2@1 TV 2@4 DV 3@1 RSV 2@10 MSV 2@10 Sarah is the temporarily incarnated form of Gloriel the Seraphim. She is wandering various Earths, trying to decide if she should Fall. She is bitter about not gaining more honor in the Courts of the Heavens. At the same time, she is insatiably curious about every aspect of Humanity and the World. She has not been incarnated before, and so she has a naive directness. She should be played as a "Man From Mars" character. She will hit upon hypocrisies, and inconsistencies and oddities of human experience. She will delight in her first taste of pie, and in dancing to the beat. She will be tempted by the adulation she may receive for her good looks. She loves this. She does Veil herself on several levels, and hide behind illusion the full glory of her presence. She could drop one veil, and show her full beauty. She could drop another, and show her Overawing Glory. She could drop the third Veil, and reassume her status as Gloriel the Seraphim. At which point, unless she held it back, everyone in a tri-state area would be blinded, and everything within twenty miles would be evaporated. But this is the fourth Veil. And she is capable of stepping sideways until she is mostly out of the purely material realm, and is thus invisible. Skills: ======= 1. Angelic Martial Arts as below. 2. Veil 3. Assume Spirit Body 4. Incarnate 5. Do Anything 6. Angelic Sword of Fire 7. Overawe with Glory 8. Feel the Glories 9. Invisibility by Sidestepping Lady of Sorrows =============== Persuasion 2@5 Animal Magnetism 3@2 (She typically Veils it to 2@3). Charisma 2@7 (She typically Veils it to 2@2). Strength 2@10 Resistance 3@3 Density 1@6 Stamina 3@4 Agility 3@2 Hand/Eye 3@5 Flexibility 2@5 Intelligence 2@8 Intuition 2@4 Willpower 3@10 Education Level 2@8 TV 2@4 DV 3@1 RSV 2@10 MSV 2@10 Skills ======= 1. Speak All Languages 2. Create Vampire 3. Create Unique Monstrosity 4. Feel the Glories: She can sense immortal spirits of all kinds in a full sphere around herself, and differentiate amongst them. Thus she can feel the presence of Humans, Demons, Angels, and who she calls "The One". 5. Touch the Glories: A Bonus Morale skill involving human sacrifice. 6. Teleport on Planetary Surface to Any Location (even ones she has not seen.) 7. Absorb Blood by Osmosis (She does not have fangs, yet. Its one of the signs of her degeneration that she will lose this skill, and develop fangs.) 8. Suggestion 9. Illusion 10. Barred Mind 11. Do Anything related to Death, Fire (not Sun related fire), and Blood. 12. Angelic Swordfighting. Martial Arts of a type of angels. 13. Manifest Sword of Fire. 14. Use Sword as Part of Body 15. Acrobatics 16. Skyscraper clearing Jumps 17. Speed of Thought--She can move so fast that you never see her move. This cannot be used to seriously attack with. But its great for her to zip up behind someone and freak them out. Lady of Sorrows is for when she's already made the evil choice. Sarah has incarnated permanently. Sarah has Fallen. And she has lost much of her power. She has torn off her wings,a nd can no longer cross the dimensional boundaries,a nd ascend to Heaven. Nor can she fly. But, she is the most powerful being on the planet by a long shot. And she's been here a long time, several thousand years. Because after she failed to be turned, she went to another world, early in its Creation, and Fell. She does drink blood because its one of the few ways to approach the rush of the Glories is to feel the lifeblood beneath her hands as the target dies. At one time, she felt the Glories like sun on her skin. Now, she couldn't stand their presence. But at the same time, she needs that feeling of attention and joy and love. Killing innocents is a poor substitute, but it'll do. Its like how some people need a feeling of power, they need power, and so they take cocaine to give them a feeling of power. She continues to Fall. Her greatness diminishes century by century. At one time, she could have juggle dthe Sun in the palm of her hand. Now, she can't bear its light as it sits in judgment on her. She has given of her self to make lesser beings called vampires. Loneliness eats away at her. But they offend her with thier greed,adn ambition,a nd she destroys them. This happens several times ove r the millenia--these Reigns of the Dead are known as bad times....the last one occurred during the Black Plague. But their seems to be evidence that she's trying it again....the Century of Slaughter filled with Nazi's and Communists and mountains of the dead seems to have been inspired by some of her creations. In this world, there are those who worship the Christ, but there are also many who have small shrines to the Lady of Sorrows who is full of self-pity and unbending anger against Heaven. The Lady who cannot admit she made a mistake. There is some speculation among a very few that she can be redeemed. After all, she has taken on a body, immortal though it be. Most think her a spirit entity,and not actually a breathing component of their life. Most of those who do realize that the ancient tales have large grains of truth in them think her inescapably evil, and in need of destruction. Others think she will only die at the Battle of Armageddon. Some think that a prophecy of a 'woman who holds a sword in her hand, and stands against the Great King for two strokes of his sword before falling to her doom.' (which is in an apocryphal text not accepted as canon) is referring to her. Others think that this refers to the evil, end-time church. Still others say 'apocrypha' and scoff which is a good position since their are other eminently false bits of prophecy in the Testimony of the Seven Witnesses. Some think that the Testimony was created by her as propaganda so that no one would attack her since she is 'invulnerable until Armageddon' or so goes the logic. Sarnark the Horrid Mirror ========================= Her final Fall takes her down to Hell. There she assumes the form of a monstrous female who still possesses some attractiveness, but also horror is in her looks, and pain is constant in her body. She has become one of the Devilish Divas, and is bound to Darkness unless some magi is incautious enough to summon her back. Persuasion 2@5 Animal Magnetism 2@1 Charisma 1@8 Strength 3@5 Resistance 3@3 Density 1@10 Stamina 3@4 Agility 3@2 Hand/Eye 3@5 Flexibility 2@5 Intelligence 1@10 Intuition 1@9 Willpower 3@10 Education Level 3@1 TV DV RSV MSV Tadeusz on "Magical Vampire" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/magical-vampire#post-1279 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:57:21 +0000 Tadeusz 1279@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ Sir Lawrence Dawkins is of the oldest families of England, and related on his foreign grandmother's side to French nobility. So, it was easy for him as a young man in the Fourteenth Century to go on a quest as he told his relatives in search of a fingerbone of St. Thomas the Doubter. He visited castle and noble house, received plaudits for his courage in braving the trails, and generally did nothing with great enthusiasm. Because he had no intention of finding the fingerbone that touched Jesus' side. He did not believe in any of it. Magic and miracles were for fools. However, it was pleasant how attentive young noblewoman would get when he mentioned his holy quest, and how the defences of their chaperones would drop when he pledged on that same quest that he would be honorable. Dawkins had some conception of what the word 'honor' meant. He redefined it in his own mind as 'stupid'. He was a latent sociopath with enough conscience that he could have held himself in check, and became a decent human being if he had tried. He didn't bother. Still, even with his breezy charm, his utter lack of scruples, and his opportunistic attack on society in a way that totally shocked those of his peers who finally understood him (which was usually shortly after he shoved them off a castle battlement in the dark of night), the trail of 'accidental deaths' and 'broken hearts leading to suicides' amongst the young nobility drew attention from Rome. A canny priest who had seen all manner of evil began to search. Feeling alive like he had not in months, Dawkins fled before him into Russia. And there he met a young noblewoman who had not heard of his past since he had outraced tales of his ill. And she had something to show him. The fingerbone of the Saint. Well, this was just too funny for Dawkins who went along with the gag. Once she showed it to him, he snatched it up, and threw it in a river. To her aghast face, he confessed that Thomas had possessed him, and made him do it. It might have worked, but the Saint decided to intervene. Thomas showed up, and cursed him. Dawkins claimed to be a doubter, and in need of faith. Thomas laughed at him, and condemned him as a liar. "You have faith already. A faith in your own self. I was in doubt, and needed evidence. You are in no doubt, and discard what evidence you find if it disagrees with your will to run your life as you please, like a rabid skunk amongst harmless puppies you run." Dawkins sneered. "If you're real, then Darkness is real as well. I call upon them." "Granted." The sound echoed from the earth. "He is cursed to burn before the sun as he is a rebel to lawful authority. He may not enter a house without respecting the authority of the homeowner." Thomas said quickly. "He feeds off the innocent with his charm. He will do likewise but more so in the future. Blood he will drink, and no woman, nor man shall be able to resist the smile he holds." The Darkness replied. "He will fear and tremble before the signs of the True God as a witness to all of his power." Thomas countered. "He will have power and strength beyond that of mortal man to bring fear, which is the true power, over all men." The Darkness replied. "He will be dead." Thomas countered. "But his soul shall be as the ghost, and it shall be caught, and held to his body." The Darkness countered, and it chuckled. "Three curses, three blessings. Tell me, Saint, have you gotten the better of me?" "O Great Shadow, I know your plans. Can you tell me mine?" And Thomas was gone with his fingerbone, and the young noblewoman. And the Darkness was greatly wroth, and it broke the earth in convulsions for many miles for it did not know what the Saint had in mind for the Light is ever obscure to those of Darkness. And thus, Sir Dawkins became one of the undead, a vampyre. He was Dammed, already dead, and aware that once he died certain judgment awaited him. And so he was full of hatred when the priest came on to him. But the priest was a verser, and had many tricks which a medieval mind did not understand. However, Dawkins did get a bite out of the priest, and become infected with scriff. So when the priest blasted him with a psionic disintegrator rod, the vampire versed out. Skills and all that later... Eric Tadeusz on "Mad Scientist 'Vampire'" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/mad-scientist-vampire#post-1588 Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:08:56 +0000 Tadeusz 1588@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ In light of Wicker's comments... Just a few notes as I wrote much of this already, and then it went away. Doctor Kaylin De Vointreau, Lady Vointreau, Kay-lee, The Weeping Woman She is an overseas student here to study with a great man in the field of genetics. They practise gene-splicing to cure diseases. The great man gets kidnapped by terrorists who leave a bomb for Kay-lee. She chooses to inject herself with Solution Fifteen, and becomes a ravenous blooddrinker. The Transformation turns her from a dirty-blonde with hair piled up on her head, glasses for her farsightedness, and an abstracted look as she considers crazy ideas that might just work, and into a panther-like female with straight silver hair, cat's eyes, claws, and fangs. During the daytime, she is herself, but with emotions heightened. At night, she may be The Weeping Woman who's emotions are way over the top. Or she may become her when she is pushed too far,a nd sh eloses control. She's got a bloodhound nose, advanced strength and agility, and she's nauseated by sunlight. She tracked down the terrorists, killed them except for one who had a gun to her mentor's head. In her enthusiasm, she charged. Her mentor was shot. The only way to save him was to take him to the university hospital. And then an injection to give strength with S15, and then before it could fully take effect,a nd kill the weakened man, the plan was to put him in an experimental cryostasis chamber. She took him to the ER, and wept the whole time in an extremis of guilt. And that is how she earned her name. Tadeusz on "Psi-Kin" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/psi-kin#post-1443 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:47:21 +0000 Tadeusz 1443@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ The Psi-Kin live in a variety of timelines. Some think this is because the gods loved them, and made many varieties of them. And this is true--they are beloved of the gods of the Light. Others point to misty legends which tell of travelling from other worlds, and other times. Sometimes the means is a starship, and other times a cave or a crack in a wall figures into the story. And some remember or have learned how to find natural gates and other-dimensional beings by the vibrations in the superstrings underlying reality. They live from fifty percent more to several hundred percent in certain special cases longer than the local population of humans although interbreeding is fully possible. Not all the races they commingle their cultures with are Human. And in some they are simply known as the Pale Ones or the Outsiders or Those Who Came From the Cave. A measure of concern for right and a sweet contentment with their lot along with a love of boldness for its own sake touch them all. It is said by some that they Fell, but not very far. That their Adam did not blame their Eve, but apologized immediately. Their great weakness is a passion for wandering. Many a great family or a nation has sprung from a Psi-Kin hunter not being willing to stop at the mouth of a natural crevice in the universe, and following it through to the other side for curiousity's sake. And once there, not being able to return. Such beings often breed with the locals, but their genes are so strong that soon a new race of Psi-kin is found but little brought down from the original genome. And even in places where their excellence is submerged in a sea of ordinariness, one tends to find the great rulers of the new land to have more than a normal share of Psi-kin in the background. For to rule the willing is their lot which they take up as a burden gladly borne, but many would rather be a hunter in a forest with a cabin and a family than a king of a vast domain. A Typical Psi-Kin Persuasion 1@8 Charisma 2@2 Animal Magnetism 1@7 Strength 1@9 Stamina 2@1 Resistance 1@10 Density 1@1 Flexibility 1@8 Agility 1@9 Hand/Eye 2@1 Intellect 1@9 Intuition 2@1 Education Level (This varies widely from world to world, but they are typically +@3 above the average local, if not more because in some societies the average local is kept deliberately dumb.) Willpower 2@2 TV 1@7 DV 1@9 RSV 2@1 MSV 1@10 All Psi-Kin have Three of the Seven of the Telepathics Package at 2@1, 1@7, and 1@3. If they do not have this, they have nothing, and are generally considered handicapped. Frequently Psi-Kin have other abilities as well (although limited by the world bias they find themselves in.) Some Psi-Kin have higher abilities than could be learned in the local universe because they come from other universes where more is possilble. Illusion, astral travelling, minor healing, and precognitions are common gifts in their race. They regard psi as a gift which reveals itself, and they do not seek to develop new abilities. But once they have an ability, they are frequently aggressive in learning how to use it. Start a gift at 1@2, and then for every decade of their age add @1 unless they have developed it very recently. Typically they have a Survival skill at 2@1, a Religion at 1@10, several Martial Arts skills at 1@8, and Leadership at 2@1. Unfortunately, some few choose a darker path. Its been discovered that one way to boost the energy available for psionic endeavours is to take the life force of another sentient. This draining takes years from the life of the target and eventually makes them old, and then makes them dust. While such skills are seductive, the truly addictive nature kicks in very hard once you kill a person. Its a bigger high than smack, and a tougher hook than crack. And thus are the Lifedrainers made. Frequently they come from the lesser of the Psi-Kin, but sometimes the great succumb to pride and frustration at not being the greatest. They typically worship Anarch deities like the Lady Icefire who burns, but never heats, and entities like the Imp of the Countercyclical. These are perverse entities who delight in maddening their followers, in disintegration of personality, and in proof that the Universe is fundamentally evil (even if they have to create that proof). Lord Starion the Outcast: Lifedrinker: Psionic Vampire: Lord Starion of House Mirabelle Persuasion 2@1 Charisma 2@2 Animal Magnetism 1@7 Strength 1@9 Stamina 1@8 Resistance 2@5 Density 1@1 Flexibility 1@8 Agility 1@9 Hand/Eye 2@1 Intellect 1@9 Intuition 1@8 Education Level 2@3 Willpower 2@4 TV 1@6 DV 1@9 RSV 1@10 MSV 1@9 Starion used to be of House Mirabelle in the Fallen Towers of soft purple of Fleurzi-Divaeli above the gold flecked sea filled with shining plankton, enormous whales sieving the deep and serving as water horses to his kindred, in a place where arm-wide phosphorescent dragonflies dueled with the trained raptors of his kin for dominance of the swirling updrafts his kindred rode with their windriding borne of their mind. Here they sought lessons of the ancient past, and mourned the days when their powers were greater. In the great harbor, they spread nets of mutual benefit and trade across the world, and across worlds. And always they sought knowledge. They were more aggressive than others of their kind in seeking ancient powers once wielded by their grandsires. And so when the book was opened, it was not immediately destroyed. And Lord Starion learned how to taste the life of another, and how to do the forbidden, and take the life of another by the power of his will alone. Joy! Power! Freedom! In his excitement he told his friends, but they were horrified. He scorned their provincial minds, and they begged him to turn back. He laughed, and took to the wind, and dared them to fight him knife on knife in the air where one falter of will could send the fighter to a fatal fall. One took his challenge. And before their eyes, Starion took his life, and flew away. He found a forgotten gate, and activated it. And he slipped through.... (To whatever world the Referee wants him in.) Of the Telepathics Package... Read Minds P1@1 at 1@6 Suggestion P1@4 at 1@7 Summonings P1@8 at 1@4 Operate Psionic Teleportive Device P1@9 at 1@4 (Open Natural Pscyoactive Dimension Gate). Synaptic Static P2@5 at 1@8 Barred Mind P2@4 at 1@9 Detect Extra-dimensionality P3@10 at 1@7 This so far is a normal array of skills for a mature, but youngish Psi-Kin to have. He is merely more advanced in these skills than most his age, but that is in part due to his sub-culture, and his own drive. Windriding at 1@6 is a (typical among his branch of the Kin, but not so elsewhere) P4@6 Neutral Buoyancy skill with the use of side panels which run loosely from the arm to the calf. When not in flight, and in good weather, these side panels are tied back with a belt. Lifedrinkers tend to use a dark cape instead of the side panels. Use Knife T3@3 at 1@8. Detect Life P3@1 at 1@4 Life Drain P14@10 at 1@7. It is immensely seductive, and he has to make a Difficult Willpower roll to stop before killing the person. This usage has blackened his aura, and imparts a counterspin to his aura which both signal darkest evil, and perversity to the knowing. It is a simple Perception check to the unknowing who observe his aura to be aware that it represents very bad things, indeed. If he Life Drains, he may Steal Physical Attributes (A variant of Lend Physical Attributes P5@7) at 1@7. Contributions by William T. Wodium. Created by Eric R. Ashley. Tadeusz on "Attacked by Natural Pervasive Effect?" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/attacked-by-natural-pervasive-effect#post-1473 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:08:03 +0000 Tadeusz 1473@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ In the famed case where a verser teleported a starship, but forgot to teleport himself, he arrived outside the spaceship sans suit. So, do you roll for an attack to hit? Can you instead assume an automatic hit, and simply say--'Lethal damage, roll for amount.' And then any number from one to 100 is used to provide damage information. Or can you even just say "Vaccuum does ten points of damage to humans per six second period" and leave it at that? Basically, I want to simplify the sun doing damage to Devlin. Devlin is not Dawkins, a rebel against the Sun. Devlin is vulnerable to UV radiation because of how his body changed. Tadeusz on "Faux Vampires" http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/faux-vampires#post-1356 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:42:39 +0000 Tadeusz 1356@http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/ Here are two Faux Vampires as follows: Larissa the Vamphyre and The Dead Man. Threats that are not as severe as it at first seems serve the purposes to scare the beginning player without being too severe for him, and confuse the knowledgeable player who thinks "But there can't be vampires in this world, the magic bias is too low". Now Wodium's Body Vampires aka 'Wodium's Wamphyres' also serve that purpose, but they are a substantial physical threat whereas these two are more to human scale. One of the benefits of having so many types of vampires so that you can confuse and bewilder the player. After all the tactics that are suited to dealing with Weeds (kill them quick before they spread) are not suited to Gavin and his cohort who are powerful and resilient enough to make serious preparations and gathering of forces an absolute must if you want to survive (unless you're good at running away). Another benefit is forcing the conscientous player to investigate--Should he just kill every vampire he meets? Is the vampire he meets that claims to be repentant and someone who is trying to be good just good at lying, or are they actually seeking redemption? One Faux Vampire (Larissa) is more suited to a game of "Let's Help the Poor Mentally Disturbed, but Dangerous Person." The other Faux Vampire (The Dead Man) has gone way past that into EVIL. ====================================== Larissa the Vampyre aka Lucretia aka Lisabelle Kieran Morgan-Jeffreys Persuasion 1@9 Charisma 2@1 Animal Magnetism 2@3 Strength 1@6 Agility 1@9 Stamina 1@5 Resistance 1@5 Density 1@1 Flexibility 1@8 Hand/Eye 2@1 Intelligence 2@1 Intuition 1@8 Education Level 2@1 Willpower 2@2 TV 1@5 DV 1@6 RSV 1@10 MSV 1@8 Dance is a 0@2 Mag skill which she has at 2@1. She is a dedicated dancer at nightclubs which is her typical aerobic activity three-four nights a week for several hours. Actress is a 0@2 Mag skill which she has at 1@8. She is a Major (Sophomore) in the Theatre and Performing Arts at the local university. She is on the Dean's List. She is very good at lying, acting innocent, acting seductive, pumping up the melodrama (which she is very fond of), mimicking voices, and assuming identities. Streetwise or Survival: Urban is a Mag 0@1 skill. She has it at 1@8. She knows where to score drugs, how to buy fake ID cards, which streets to avoid at what times because creeps hang out there. Use Talons is a 3@3 Tech skill she has at 1@8. She has long metal talons she can put on her fingertips. They do Annoying Damage, but she is trained in a related skill. NOTE: She has used these as a way to inject sedative into her prey. This sedative is a Damage Rider if used. The target rolls a Simple Stamina check or passes unconscious in 1d10 rounds for 2d10 minutes. A poor success indicates that the target is extremely woozy. Strike for Vital Spots is a Bod Skill of Intensified Damage at 7@3 which she has at 1@5. This raises her damage category for fist, mace, or talons by one. It has a -10 Situation Modifier, and requires a ten second 'sizing up the target' preparation time. Use Teeth is a Tech 3@3 skill which she has at 1@8 skill level. She has a set of stainless steel inset fangs which she can take in or out. She has trained with them for throat-strikes on a mannequin she keeps at home. This attack is Dangerous at -50 unless ambush in which case its 20 Sit-mod. Soft Feet is a Stealth type skill which is 0@6 body. Her skill is at 1@5. Due to her dancing and streetwise she's learned to walk softly for a short distance. Using this skill lasts for one minute. She uses this to heighten melodrama, or she envisions using it to sneak up behnd someone and drink their blood. Intimidate with Fangs is a form of Posturing skill which is Psi 8@0. She has it at 1@5 skill level. She lets out the Full Crazy inside her, and flashes her fangs in the night. The effect is spooky, and very scary. Opponent must make a Difficult Willpower check to not be taken aback, or even flee. Larissa is obviously emotionally overwraught for five minutes afterwards. Larissa is a well-to-do college student (rich if inattentive parents who thought buying a trip to Aspen for a week was a fair trade for missing Sunday dinner) who believes that she is a vampire. She is human. She is heavily into Goth culture although a fair number of them find her 'way freaky', but thats mostly among the girls because the guys like her for her looks. She has not yet killed anyone, although she has found a few dead bodies of homeless people and accident victims, and made them up to look like vampire kills. She is mentally disturbed although she does a good job of hiding it. She has a few friends who are almost as nutty as her, but less inclined to take action. She is heading toward being a full-blown serial killer. She has a history of doping up guys by dropping pills in their drinks, taking them back to her 'house of the dead' and giving them a seriously twisted mind-trip courtesy of hallucinogens, female charm, and lots of really freaky props. No one she has so 'vampired' has come forward to the police although kidnapping and mental torture were involved because they feared being made a laughingstock, and they knew they were out of their head on drugs, and at least one (the only one who really knows her real name) thinks she really is a Vampire. She has her friends help her with these kidnappings as well. So she's on her way to starting her own cult as well. One possibility is for her to have seen the verser arrive, and she decides to start playing mind games with him over the next few months... Or she may decide to kidnap the verser. Or the verser may find a dead 'kill'. ====================================== Stanfield Fitzwarren aka The Dead Man aka The Dead aka Field aka Lord of Darkness aka Prince of Darkness. Persuasion 2@2 Charisma 1@3 Animal Magnetism 1@6 Strength 1@8 Agility 1@7 Stamina 2@1 Resistance 1@5 Density 1@1 Flexibility 1@10 Hand/Eye 2@1 Intelligence 2@5 Intuition 2@2 Education Level 2@4 Willpower 2@3 TV 1@7 DV 1@7 RSV 2@2 MSV 2@3 Field as he is typically known is attempting to get his doctorate in chemistry. His high Ed Level reflects the truly vast array of other data his manically inquisitive mind has picked up on the way. He became a doctoral candidate because that is what his mother wanted. Along the way, he discovered how useful high social position, and a rigourously trained mind with an absurd amount of skills could be in his true profession. Still, he hates his mother for making him learn all that. And one day, he's going to muster the courage to explain to her how he really feels instead of lying through his teeth, and saying he loves her. Stanfield does not love anything, except himself. He is a narcissist with a sociopath's conscience. He wants to live forever in his 'good-looking body' (he goes to the gym daily), and takes all manner of vitamins for his health. But, inside he is 'dead'. Nothing truly excites him, but the spill of blood and the Hunt. When he read of vampire legends of beings who lived forever, hunted, and were very good-looking, and had the power to, when they exerted their will, to bend others to their will...he had an intellectual flash. They were talking about people like him. He was very persuasive when he wanted to be, but otherwise cold (he gets lots of second dates at the gyms he attends, but few thirds as most women sense something cold about him after some time). This angers him in a cold way, and he takes out his anger by hunting. In order to become a Vampire, he constructed a 'Black Ritual' where he pledged his fealty to Dracula and to the Previous Holders of the title Prince of Darkness. After this, he considers himself a vampire. Most people he simply jabs in the neck with a cocktail of anti-coagulants and strong sedatives, and then nicks their jugular and sits down to watch them drain while taking a small sip now and then. But that is because most people he considers to be 'boring'. It is likely that a verser he would consider to be fascinating, and he would spend weeks trying to figure the verser out, and playing mind games with the verser. Elaborate tricks, framing them for the murders he committed, leading them to think someone else is responsible, telling them he is Russian royalty and the KGB is sending assassins to kill him......He is very inventive, and will play like a cat with a mouse for as long as he can if the verser is interesting. Chemist is a Tech skill he has at 2@2. Use Syringe is a Tech 3@3 skill he has at 2@1. Fool Lie Detection is a P 2@0 skill which he has at 2@3. Most of the time, he rolls his Persuasion checks normally. However, any time when he rolls a Persuasion check specifically to convince someone of a lie, he is allowed a skill check in the event that the attribute check fails. Normally, the failed persuasion roll would mean that the victim doesn't believe the lie, but if Stanfield Fitzwarren succeeds at a P2@0 Fool Lie Detection skill roll, the victim is required to succeed at an Intuition check (RS = simple/difficult/none) in order to see through the lie. Of course, it's possible that someone could believe that Stanfield isn't intentionally lying but still not believe that the statement is true (that is, that Stanfield is sincere yet mistaken); that could be determined by GE roll, or perhaps by relative success from the initial Persuasion check. Fool Self Into Believing Lie is a 1@0 Hypnosis variant whereby he convinces himself that his lies are true. He has it at skill level 1@8. If this succeeds, any lie detection that depends on the subject's belief should fail automatically, without any need for further rolls. If it fails, he still gets to use his P2@0 defense. However, this skill has a downside in that the user temporarily believes things that aren't true (and may thus take actions that aren't in his best interest - "Go ahead and search the cabinet, officer, I've got nothing to hide; here's the key"). With this skill, he can easily lie to a lie detector as he betrays almost no signs of lying. Indeed, with preparation, he can talk himself into believing his own lies temporarily which gives a . Run is a Bod 3@6 skill he has at 1@8. (He runs five miles daily on the treadmill at the University Gym.) Jump is a Bod 5@1 skill titled Reaching Jump which he has at 1@9. (He has practised the urban sport of rooftop running in preparation of the day he might have to flee.) Low Single Hurdles is a Bod 5@2 skill that he developed as above at 1@5. Climb is a Bod 1@8 (He has noticed how few people look up, and so has on occasion climbed to find a proper ambush spot.) Ambush is a Tech 0@3 skill he has at 1@6. Use Knife is a 3@3 Tech skill he has at 1@5. He carries a Swiss army knife he uses for this purpose. It does Annoying Damage -10 Sit-mod. Religion is a Mag 1@0 skill which he has at 1@5. His religion is Vampirism. His prophets are the previous Princes of the Undead. His holy books are the lore of the vampire. He does not know the name of his deity, but he prays to Vlad Dracul who he believes is a personal representative of the Darkness he serves. Obviously, this is an Anarch religion. Its also a very personal religion he made up himself. Black Ritual is a Ceremony of 'Envampirification' which dedicates the caster to the Vampire Kingdom throughout time and space. It is a Mag 1@1 skill Ceremony NOS which he has at 1@3. It makes any plea to conscience or morality possessed by the caster a Difficult challenge to begin with. It attracts the favorable attention of Evil. It causes the caster to 'be' as much a vampire as it is possible in the world they are in (That is, it has variable effects in higher magic worlds). This is a Coronation ritual, and the caster will be recognized by others in the know as a Prince of Darkness. Time: Midnight on a night without a moon (the end of the casting)(+10). Place: Atop the grave of a murderer who escaped punishment in this life, and lived to a ripe old age before dying unrepentant +15). Time spent: Six hours +35. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic. Material items: A rope used to hang a man which laid in a sacred circle and later is burnt(Appropriate material +5)(+8 X2=+16). Cocaine which is also laid in a sacred circle and snorted regularly(+5 X2=+10. Alteration of mentality and weakness +10). Speaking is a mantra of the names of former vampires and the names of the victims he intends to take which is repeated over and over with small breaks for sips of human blood (+20) to lubricate the throat (blood which is laced with LSD(More alteration of mentality with risk of death from drug interatctions +10)). Variable Effect: -40 Throw Fear: Reduce Morale is a 1@1 Mag skill. with Intimidating Stare (appropriate action +5), and thirty seconds (1/2 baseline for -10), and only one action for -10 at a skill level of 1@9. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic. This is a Magic skill suited for a low-magic world. Bring Terror: Penalize Checks is a 1@4 Mag skill. The intimidating stare (appropriate action +5) and the loud proclamation (neccessary to be heard +5) "I am the Lord of the Night, the Dead Walk among you!" (+10 as it amounts to a confession of utter madness or vile evil). He rarely uses this as it amounts to a confession of guilt. The skill is thus a relatively unpractised 1@3, but it is effective when it works. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic. Both 'Fear' and 'Terror' he picked up after the Black Ritual. It worked. He did contact Evil, and they accepted his fealty, and gave him a couple boons. It is possible that they might warn him or help him in some other way if he is seriously threatened. However, the direct influence that the supernatural can have in his world is limited. He has killed a number of people, but he's smart enough to realize he needs to hide it. So he fakes accidents, sets houses on fire with bodies inside, and hides bodies in a cave he found. His preferred targets are young females, and people who irritate him, but he's smart enough to realize he needs to blur the picture. So he uses a computer program to pick out other targets. The program is designed to defeat pattern-matching programs which might hunt for him. Also, if he figures out the verser's nature, he's methodical and courageous enough to get a blood sample, and inject himself while electrocuting himself in the hope of versing out. ======================================== One demented melodramatic and one serial killer served up as new opponents for the verser.