Is there a purpose to this? Who even cares?

Strengths: Physical superiority, immortality, and a proclivity towards other unnatural powers(though this isn't super necessary, it keeps them from being boring if they have some side hustles).
Weaknesses: A need for blood, constant threat of moral corruption if not outright being morally corrupt inherently, sunlight, dismemberment, and ideally something interesting happens when their heart is pierced.

>>93916522
You could basically ask this in every single thread ever made. Yet you don't do that... right? Right, Anon?

>>93916495
Drinking blood (or at least chi or similar) is the only hard requirement for a creature being called a vampire. All else is optional.

>>93916495
I hate the idea of vampire attributes being too silly. Lots of vampkino does the supernatural elements well, while schlock does the "it's a virus that causes photosensitivity" nonsense. It's boring.

>>93916557
How come you replied to me and not any of the three people engaging with the topic? Could it be because you dont actually care about their opinions and just want to waste their time? Id hate to be one of those newfags screaming into the void because they cant recognize a non-topic when they see it

>>93916529
Add fear of fire and you've basically got VtM?

>>93916742
I mean, its a solid template.
Vampires need to be strong enough not to just get beat up, and if they're not immortal they don't feel like vampires
Drinking blood is so inherently vampiric that if they don't it's twilight "Sun makes you sparkle" tier, moral corruption ties into the trope of vampires being evil aristocrats or evil alleyway rapists, and if dismemberment isn't a thing then how tf do you kill them.

>>93916495
I like the not being able to enter uninvited thing. I wish more vampires had that still.

>>93917114
Fuck yeah the weaknesses like that and not crossing running water and compulsive counting. They're playful, like your monster is on freeze tag rules to give you a chance.

Every vampire should have to randomly generate their strengths and weaknesses. No two vampires are the same. Some vampires are shit and practically auto-suicide, some are essentially blood gods, but nearly all of them are just weirdos. This not only makes vampires themselves more interesting as characters and opponents, it makes vampire hunters more interesting because of what it demands of them. There's not a perfect solution to every problem, and investigation becomes more significant.

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>>93917114
You are in luck!

Even in the original Dracula novel, Dracula had very different powers from the brides of Dracula. Who were really more like the barely tolerated roommates of Dracula.

That said, here's my list

>Drinks blood or some other form of vital energy to survive
>Repelled by garlic in some manner
>Vulnerable to direct sunlight
>Hard to kill in general

>>93917180
>had very different powers from the brides
What powers did they have other than, without seemingly even needing to be conscious, the ability to enchant Harker and van Helsing, which Dracula can do while conscious at least, to cast no shadow in moonlight, which Dracula can do, and to suck blood, again Dracula?

>more like the barely tolerated roommates of Dracula
Some scholars speculate they are actually his wife and daughters.

>>Vulnerable to direct sunlight
Which of course did him no real harm in the Stoker novel.

>>93916565
It's weird how vampirism through sex (wherein the vampire prevents themselves from orgasming in order to perform the act of energy vampirism in their victim) is a common staple of Chinese folklore that never gets brought up anywhere. Like, all these taoist cultivator immortals are all S-tier at edging

>>93916522
>>93916630
>>>/plebbit/
fuck off

>>93917267
Was that an actual thing in folklore or was it invented by more recent cultivator shit? Also, I know in D&D 1e, one way to become a "greater vampire" (a vampire that could operate in daylight with its superior strength but lost most of its other vampire abilities) was to get your life drained by a succubus.

>>93916495
>Madatory power
Drinks blood
Sexy
>Mandatory weakness
Blood is aphrodisiac
Slutty

>>93916495
Vampires begin and end in the AD&D Monster Manual.

>>93916495
Enhanced strength, immortality through drinking blood, the ability to transform parts of their body or the full body within a full moon, walk on walls and hypnosis.

Weaknesses wise Vampires should be unable to enter places they have not been invited into, a weakness to holy items such as crucifixes and holy water, they must consume human blood on a regular basis or else they suffer from a lack of withdrawal and rapid ageing, damage to the heart or brain via a stake (can be made of wood or metal) and finally cannot leave their coffin at night if a rose is placed on top of their coffin whilst they are sleeping during daytime.

>>93916495
turning into a bat is so iconic that it should just be a baseline power all vampires get

>>93916495
Supernatural predatory grace and speed, but not to the point where it completely defies the laws of physics (or at least not on a regular basis).
Overall, I think the mist/bat/wolf transformation thing should be written off as something more like an illusion or some deceptive trickery rather than 'shapeshifting'.
I'd say garlic shouldn't 'repel' them- but I think it'd make more sense to say something potent should 'overwhelm' their sense of smell and make it more difficult to pinpoint the location of prey in the vicinity.
I thought the line in the Netflix Castlevania series about the cross was nifty- That it's not so much 'the cross', but rather the fact that vampires are exclusively predators and their vision is different from a normal human's, so geometric shapes right in their face fuck with them (not sure how scientifically plausible this is, but it sounds fun).
I also like the idea of chucking a whole shitload of beans or marbles or something all over the place- and that momentarily 'overloads' the vampire's predatory 'tracker' sense.
The whole 'sleeping for a century' thing makes sense to me- a vampire's exclusive prey is a slow-maturing animal with a low birth rate and a long gestation period, ideally they'd want to pace themselves. Plus, eventually people get pissed off and do something if you keep biting them (I know 2 homeless dudes that can confirm this).
I've never been a huge fan of 'the only thing that can kill them is X, Y, and Z'- because I believe if you throw enough violence at something, eventually there won't be enough of it left to matter. Hell, if it can feel pain- enough of that should overload it's brain after a shitload of physical trauma.
Overall, my personal rule for vampires is that they shouldn't be 'unstoppable killing machines'- a small group of well-trained, coordinated, properly equipped human beings should be a real threat.

>>93917342
It's actual folklore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_vampire

>>93916495
Honestly the way VtM does vamps is probably the best way. It's certainly my favorite. Everyone has baseline strenghts and weaknesses, then you can tack on other stuff to differentiate clans and bloodlines.

>>93917996
>VtM vamps the best way
>Literally a bunch of useless overdramatic faggots crying foul because someone out there might have figured out how to put magnesium chunks into a shotgun shell and shoot one of them.
I'm not sure I understand

>>93916495
To the degree that I care at all, it's that they fit the story that they're in.
You can have cyberpunk vampires who need human blood because their robot bodies burn too hot or whatever and destroy their own blood cells and need constant replenishing.
You can have gothic horror vampires who are just gay coded drama queens touring the ballet and trying to seduce you into be the star of a dinner party.
You can have beastial blood thirsty monster vampires that glorify in the kill and hunt humans as predators and sadists.
You can even have emo crybabies who sparkle in the sunlight for all I give a shit.

What's important is the story that you tell with them. And if it's shitty your use of them will be shitty. And if it's good your use of them will be good.

>>93917267
>>93917342
>>93917903
It's a tantric mystic thing, not directly associated with hopping vampires or any other kind of vampire, but yea people believed in it. Also if you don't cum for a long time then you look like a brainiac because the unused semen travels up your spine and makes your head swell.

>>93918278
Me again, I forgot that tantra was indian, I'm dumb. I actually don't know anything about the relationship between Chinese sperm-hoarding and Indian sperm-hoarding.

>>93916495
Not being able to enter without being invited is great. Loved the scene from What We Do in the Shadows where the vampires go out clubbing and get into an argument with the bouncer because they want him to invite them in and he politely tells them to fuck off.

>>93918262
It saddens me that this good post will inevitably draw the attention of some retard who thinks gaming shouldn't have any intentional content.

>>93916742
oWoD VtM is good, though.
Didn't we use to have a VtM general?

>>93918297
That's easy, the Chinese one is because there's like 1 woman for every 40 dudes
And the Indian version is usually all over the keyboard after seeing some bobs and vegana
Hope this helps.

>>93917137
Not entering homes without invitation and not crossing running water could be explained as the predator part of them meshing with the human part of them. By human standards it's rude and the animal part of them has territorial instincts.

Rivers are often used as borders, so they don't cross them without permission of the person who owns the other bank.

>>93916495
Nothing is too silly. I love giving vampires all the powers and weaknesses, mainly because it’s a trade off. You get tons of powers and abilities, but now there’s a dozen things you have to worry about incapacitating or killing you.
It also provides a nice contrast with werewolves, who have no control over themselves but only have one, kinda inconvenient to use weakness.

>>93918012
Reread the OP, then my post you illiterate ESL.

>>93916495
Powers:
>Anything blood-related (including boosting your own power the more blood you drink)...overall capable of using blood magic too
>Animal transformation (not only limited to bats)
>Mist form
>More monstrous humanoid war form (depletes blood faster)
>Ability to command animals
>Dominating and commanding humans
>Innate necromantic powers
>Ability to further heighten specific senses
>Superhuman physical capabilities (further boosted in war form)
>Constant regeneration (impaired to an extent if not fed prior)
>Ability to reactivate human organs and becoming technically alive (this includes visible physical changes to look like your former human self, yet again after prior feeding on blood...may result in dhampyrs if you are not careful while mingling with humans in such a state)
>Overall very hard to or nigh impossible to kill through conventional means
>Physical and magical capabilities grow with age (further accelerated if the vampire further trains and experiments)

Weaknesses:
>Only lethal weakness is piercing the heart and then burning the vampire while his heart is pierced
>Everything else either weakens the vampire or causes allergic reactions that keep the vampire at bay or forces them to temporarily retreat
>Additional weaknesses depend on the culture, religion and bloodline of the aforementioned vampire

>>93916495
>immortal undead
>drinks blood
>harmed by sunlight
there it is, the absolute barest minimum to count as a vampire

>>93920257
>harmed by sunlight

>Dracula isn't a vampire
>Varney isn't a vampire
>Carmilla isn't a vampire
I'm not sold on your definition at all.

>>93920319
Nosferatu and its consequences have been a disaster for the vampire creature

You know what I hate about these bumpfag vampire threads? Despite the subject matter, they lack cool, metal, sexy, or gothic vampire art. At least give me a mansion on a hill you gormless samefagging fucks.

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>>93920504
Sorry to distract from one of the 20 Games Workshop threads, anon. That must be really hard for you.

>>93920754
Is this AI or that feethand is another basic requirement of vampires?

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>>93920814
It's just slop. Anon bleated that he must be fed pictures, so it's time to shovel the shit.

>>93920826
Since VTM 5e has about the same quality of art, I wasn't entirely sure.

>>93918915
>Can't stop shilling VtM in a non VtM thread
>Gets told to fuck off
>Starts crying
No one with a brain likes VtM "vampires".

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>>93920842
Let's not get precious about the old "art."

>>93917180
>Who were really more like the barely tolerated roommates of Dracula.
They were his wives.

>>93917267
i think that might just be due to succubi existing in western folklore

>>93920891
Still infinitely better than any art produced for gWoD.

>>93920904
>barely tolerated roommates
>They were his wives.
Checks out. If you ever get married, you'll understand, young lad.

>>93918750
Vampire Hunter D does this really well. Vampires are basically demigods, especially the more powerful ones, but exploiting their weaknesses can render them helpless. They use their many abilities to avoid or combat situations like this but they can't straight-up no sell them, even a thousands of years old vampire was paralyzed by an item that creates artificial daytime conditions.

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>>93922518
Vampire Hunter D would make a great setting for a pen and paper RPG.
>World has been completely reshaped by vampires during their golden age
>Lots of strange and exotic locations due to Noble fuckery
>Massive potential for a bestiary, you've got all kinds of messed up vampire experiments, monsters and mutants roaming the earth
>Humans can also develop strange supernatural powers and superhuman physical abilities
>Tons of ruins and abandoned places left over from the Nobility gradually declining
>Nobles have shit tons of potential as antagonists, each of them have their own weird schticks

>>93923070
>>Nobles have shit tons of potential as antagonists, each of them have their own weird schticks
In the trash it goes. I want to play as the vampire, not to fight vampires. Already tired of that.

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>>93916495
Strength
>Regeneration
>Flesh/blood manipulation (alter one body in many ways from mimicking animals and weapons)
>Boosted Necromancy

Weakness
>Pure numbness (undead that can't feel anything not pain or joy & not taste or touch)
>Holy power (but actual blessed magic not a random priest holding across or babbling into water)
>Blood addiction (doesn't need to feed off blood but is the only way to feel any sort of sensation from necrotic numbness)
>Nocturnal (sun is more irritating than burning)

It's got to have a weakness you could find lying around a house or any person could reasonably get access to.
Garlic, crosses and silver are all great for this. If your vampire is only weak to shit like crossing running bodies of water and flowerbeds, fuck you.

>>93923196
At no point did Anon suggest you couldn't play as a Vampire. Something players have been able to do since the 90's. What you think it'd be one big bloodsucking family or something? It's based on Vampire Hunter D for fuck's sake! You fucking imbecile.

>>93923702
>. What you think it'd be one big bloodsucking family
Yes. They reunite in the morning to share their bread and butter, whilst talking about their last prey. Kino as fuck. Vampire on vampire violence is not acceptable.

>>93923070
Yeah I just started rereading them. I think it'd be fine w/ Gamma World or Mutant Future. I forgot how many there are. I'd only gotten through the first 5 or 6 previous. There are 54 novels. Finished the first two today so far. They're pretty easy reads and like 250 pages each.

>>93916495
A vampire must feed off of other's life force to survive. They must be superhuman in some way, and they must have some fatal weakness.

>>93920319
Varney and Dracula are interesting because they lose powers in sunlight. Dracula can’t shapeshift in the sun, while Varney requires moonlight to heal from injuries.
Carmilla, iirc, is just uncomfortable in sunlight, but isn’t weaker in it.

>>93924353
Neither Carmilla nor Varney were affected by sunlight. Dracula wasn't weaker it's just his power of shapeshifting was based on the time of day or moon.

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>>93916495
Mandatory:

Ageless immortality BUT the longer they exist the inhuman and batlike they start to look, like Nosferatu. Loss of human features and relationships and the ennui of existence mingled with accelerated perception of time always degrade them to a base animal level on a long enough time frame.

Weakness to sunlight: this can either be like them drowning in sunlight or instantaneous bursting into flames the moment a bright enough UV ray hits them, but they simply cannot endure the sun unless heavily concealed and even then it still taxes them to be out during the day. Weakness to true believers, the religion doesn't matter only that the wielder of the cross/holy water/garlic/whatever truly believes there is a holy being that has their back.

Supernatural strength and senses, not necessarily super human, but able to bench 500lbs without much effort, near night/thermal vision in the dark, extreme pain tolerance and healing to anything that doesn't sever/destroy their head. These abilities start human-esque but get more pronounced in time.

Aristocratic bearing. Vampires would sire people they want to be with, the extremely beautiful ans/or extremely charming. Vampires are vain social animals, an old/ugly/stupid person being sired would be unheard of. Most vampires would be under 25 years old and well above average in personality and smarts.

Don'ts:

No actual super powers. No talking with creatures of the night, no flying, no polymorphing. Other supernatural creatures pose the same threats to them as a human would face, though strength, cunning, healing, and awareness would help seasoned vampires survive such encounters.

Human blood only, at least 2+ gallons worth once a month, or else they begin to decay. Anything causes extreme pain and sickness.

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>>93920504
Be the change you want to see anon

>>93924201
I forget how many volumes I read, but I lost interest because it felt like the plot points (mostly the stuff involving Dracula) never really went anywhere. I get that it's due to the time these novels were written and they had to be self-contained stories, but there are only so many times I can read about D taking out the vampire of the week.

Does any kind of overarching plot happen in the later volumes? I might pick it up again if it does.

>>93924414
Yeah, that’s what I said. Dracula can’t shapeshift in daylight, and Varney needs moonlight to heal.
It’s been a while since I read Carmilla, but I seem to recall that she’d complain or get uncomfortable if she sat in the sun for too long, but didn’t suffer any other effects. Again though, it’s been a while and I found Carmilla really hard to read.

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>>93923070
>>93924635
It did get a bit repetitive but the premise is immaculate and needs more world-building to flesh it out. There's so much implied cool shit in there it could keep a campaign running for decades.

I'm running a post-apoc techno-fantasy vampire game right now and I plan to incorporate as much of Vampire Hunter D into it as I possibly can.

>>93916495
I don't think any are mandatory, whatever works for the story you're telling. Not having a reflection is a small one that is easy to implement without affecting anything so in that sense there is no reason "not" to do it. Whereas other powers/weaknesses could create plot holes or paint you into a corner

>>93916495
I think the sun is a general weakness they should always have. Maybe not disintegration always depending on the setting but eh.
At least in my setting vampires are very rare, but their weaknesses beyond sunlight are tailored to each one, and they're primarily repelled by things related to something they strongly believed in in life because it deeply reminds them of what they lost.
Like a cross will work on a vampire who was a very religious man before turning, but a vampire who wasn't will just take the cross and shove it up your ass. Maybe he was a scholar and is repelled by books instead and can't go near any sort of school, invite or no.

>>93918584
Clean running water is also a great way to stop the spread of disease. As is silver funny enough since it has naturally antimicrobial properties, and getting regular sunlight is good for your health as well.

>>93917887
>but rather the fact that vampires are exclusively predators and their vision is different from a normal human's, so geometric shapes right in their face fuck with them (not sure how scientifically plausible this is, but it sounds fun).
There was a novel that did that, where too many right angles would cause a vampire to basically have a seizure and die. Vampires were primarily wiped out by modern architecture in general killing them on sight.

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>>93916495
>turning into a bat
>not being able to enter a house unless you're invited
>ridiculous

Garlic sounds dumb, but I'm sure there's a cool folk explanation I'm not aware of.
Not being able to cross running water is a good one.
Needing dirt from your home land doesn't make sense to me, but again, folk weirdness.
They should straight up burst into flames under the sunlight.

>>93916630
>wah stop wasting time on a 4chan board about dnd
kek

You now can't stop thinking that malkavians are just addicted to reading on a cracked smartphone.

Are you reading on a cracked smartphone?

>>93924688
>Again though, it’s been a while and I found Carmilla really hard to read.
That's because it's not very good. None of the three are. Varney is just an absolute mess that changed and retconned its entire plot like six or seven times throughout the course of its run. Dracula is probably the best of the three and let's face it: it's written as letters as a gimmick to cover up for weak writing.

>>93924635
>Does any kind of overarching plot happen in the later volumes? I might pick it up again if it does.
I don't know. I'll let you know if one develops. Seriously it's like a couple hours to read them.

>>93926903
Average VtM loser fan. Real vampire fiction is "hard to read". But his woe is me melodramatic trash is considered "top-notch".

>>93925584
Fuck you

>>93928791
Not sure I understand what you're trying to get across. They aren't "hard to read." Dracula and Carmilla are both written at a middle-school reading level. Varney probably lower but I cannot find any scores for it online because who the fuck still reads it? I've literally never met another person besides myself who has ever sat down and read that hackish slog of trash (which I enjoyed, because I like trashy, hackish slogs).

>>93918012
That's not really accurate to how VtM vamps are at least not until V5 , rather that's a description of how a small but vocal population of players insist on playing and treat it like a dogma, accusing everyone who does not play that way of BadWrongFun.

>>93929035
I'm making fun of you for being a pretentious loser unable to read proper vampire fiction. Is not that I think Victorian literature is hard to read per se, but it's certainly hard enough to filter the likes of you.

I remember some vampire being able to use his magical powers only if he inserts his toes inside his nostril and having glowing armpits and anus. African folklore is weird

>>93931199
On second thought, I think the one with toes in nostrils might be Asian

>>93930593
The things you're saying don't seem to be connected at all to the posts you're replying to. I don't understand what you're trying to communicate at all.

>>93926903
>>93930593
Oh are you trying to say that, because I'm talking about the quality and specifics of the writing, you therefore assume I haven't read Dracula, Carmilla and Varney? I wasn't following because you'd have to be borderline retarded to make that assumption.

But go on.

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>>93916495
Mandatory? Ability to suck blood through biting, immortality, ability to heal from grievous injuries, affinity for the undead. For weaknesses, it's sunlight and holy objects. That's all you need, I think.
Personally, I don't think any of the vampire lore is silly. If it appears in the texts that make them popular, it does so for a reason

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>>93925325
Garlands of garlic are considered good for warding off spirits. Since vampires are undead, it works on them, too. People just heard 'garlic' and ran with it.

I love Rifts take on vampires, it's so ridiculously hilarious.
Just take the weaknesses and strengths of vampires and amplify it to 100.
Vampires reduced to a pile of bones being able to regenerate within seconds, but at the same time a flashlight with a cross taped to it will kill that vampire instantly.

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>>93916522
There has never been a purpose for posting on 4chan.
This is for fun.
People who like fun care.

>>93931409
I'm saying you got filtered. Take that as you will.
>>93931293
Why VtM kids always run to defend their own? Do you run in packs like rats?

>>93931909
So you want to make assumptions about other posters, insult those assumptions you've made, and derail conversations?

What do you get out of that?

>>93931909
Attention whore.

>>93916495
Which system are you playing?

>>93925584
>implying I take smartphone-era VtM into consideration
The world ended in 2012, anon.

>>93918278
Ah, so that's why Yakub invented the white woman

>>93918297
Chinese hoard sperm to attain immortality
Indians do it to achieve annihilation

>>93920988
An autist cultivator would fuck the succubus to steal their Yin energy to further balance his own internal energies without ever ejaculating

>>93917887
>That it's not so much 'the cross', but rather the fact that vampires are exclusively predators and their vision is different from a normal human's, so geometric shapes right in their face fuck with them (not sure how scientifically plausible this is,
Wtf they just stole that from Blindside

>>93916574
Porphyria is real though and tends to propagate within a certain tribe of people.

>>93934228
And he'd die like an idiot for going in gun blazing despite not understanding how foreign supernaturals work.

>>93934247
It’s also stupid as hell because holy water works on vampires in the Castlevania show. Why did we need a “scientific” explanation for the cross messing with them but holy water is okay as is?

>>93923468
What about specific kinds of wood?

>>93916495
>'mandatory' vampire powers
Shapeshifting into rodents and building tunnels
A strong religious and racial group identity
Gets a whole rest day
Control of the banks
Control of the media
>'mandatory' vampire weaknesses
Aversion to Christian symbols
Being named
Zyklon B

>>93934247
Lol that is 100 percent some Warren Ellis shit. Makes sense in blind side, stupid as fuck anywhere else.

>>93940136
>Being named
So if you know a vampire’s true name you can force it away?

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>>93916495
Jojo vampirism is perfect.
You have super human strength, speed, agility, healing and other, but not super human durability.
So a well trained team or a very powerful human could take you on with the right circumstances.
Instantly dying in the sun is a must, non of that gay shit where you "can live" for awhile in the sun.

>>93924635
>>93924689
I'm also reading the novels and I finished the first one a few days ago, right now on the second one with the village and the math girl.
I personally like Benge from the movie. I think his shadow powers are cool and his design and speech is sick.
His shadow powers are really broken tho.

>>93916495
>mandatory
Drains blood
Sunlight bad

Next question
>but that's reeeally boring
You said mandatory, not "I want animal transforming, hypnosis, thralls, sleeping in a coffin, blood sense, blood sight, virgin sense, immortality, super strength, callousness, vampire councils, stakes, garlic, mirrors, castles, makeup, and sparkly skin"

>is a bat power as ridiculous as requiring an invitation?
Needing to be invited is better than becoming a bat. It's supposed to make you fear strangers and teach you to say no.

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absolute bare minimum? enhanced strength and speed, fangs, infravision, and the need for blood and extreme damage per round exposed to the sunlight. at least enough to outright vaporize lower level vampires immediately, while a high level vampire could make it through a blast of magical sunlight, albeit barely. "a stake through the heart" doesn't count as a weakness because that kills everything else, too.
extra? the general effects of undeath. no need to eat, drink (water), breathe, or sleep, though a vampire may still do these things as a coping mechanism or for pleasure. bat affinity, the ability to disperse into a cloud of bats or mist, rapid healing through blood consumption. as for weaknesses, holy symbols CAN be fun, but I think it depends on the individual in question. if they're someone who outright rejects their undeath or someone who drew strength from their faith in life and kept that unto undeath, it's kind of lame to change that and impinges on too many literary devices I'm a fan of. but if they revel in their curse and are as evil as they wanna be, holy symbols could definitely at least cause fear, if not pain. ... though if they DO just cause pain but faithful individuals keep at it anyway that's just cool as hell, actually.
garlic, running water, needing an invitation etc is a bit too folksy, illogical, and hamstringing in my opinion. as enemies it makes them lame and weak. as player options it's way too annoying.

I like both fucked up monstrous hideous vampires and sexpires so I usually just have them both depending on the blood diet of the individual. if they drink human blood they retain their more human appearance. if they subsist on rats or other animals they become more bestial/nosferatu-style.

>>93916574
shit takes

>>93916495
A vampire is undead, they can die, but aren't actually alive. Sex is unattainable for them, though pleasure isn't.

A vampire must be away from natural light at all times, if not, he will burn.

A vampire is weak to holy symbols, as well as garlic.

Vampires are bound to the time they were alive in attitude, and a lesser extent, in style.

>>93923070
Another anime/manga thingy; in battle angel alita there was one arc (surviving in recent apocalypse or whatever it was, cant remember, it's all kind of post-apocalyptic shit anyway, arc was telling the story of that vampire antagonist lady) where vampires would sometimes (every hundred years or something) gain new random powers like bullet time (lol) or bullet-proof scale armor-like skin.

Surely players would rejoice getting new powers from random chart?

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>>93916495
How do you put your own twists on the vampire archetype, powers and weaknesses included?

>>93924901

Blindsight, by Peter Watts. Sidenote unrelated to the thread, it's a really, really good book and if you fuck with hard sci-fi at all I would go so far as to say you owe it to yourself to give it a read.

>>93916495
power: great at counting
weakness: great at counting

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>>93924901
>>93917887
>>93950674
>it's not religion it's like uhhhhh shapes
Possibly the worst thing since UV bullets, and now loads of "i fuckin' love science" reddit vampire fiction does this kind of shit.

>>93951080
Why counting? Does being undead give you OCD, lol?

>>93955826
I assume this is a Sesame Street reference.

>>93955871
don't indulge bumpfag, come on now.
It's a folklore thing that vampires count things, where do you think sesame street got it from?

>>93955826
Are you retarded? Why do you think leaving piles of rice outside your home wards off vampires?

>>93950674
Second this. Blindsight and Echopraxia were two of the best books I read this year.
>>93951135
Eh, I doubt anything I say is gonna sway you, but "vampires" in the Fire Fall novels aren't supernatural or magical in any way, they are a predator species that went extinct in prehistory that have been brought back. It's actually pretty cool how they work in the books.

>>93951135
If the vampire story doesn't contain religion then you're probably reading redditor fanfiction.

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>>93916495
The absolute barest MINIMUM to be considered a vampire:
>turns to ash when exposed to sunlight
>must and can ONLY drink blood
>undead(no heartbeat, doesn't breathe, etc)

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>>93916495
If Dhampirs are possible in your setting, how are they born, and what powers and weaknesses do they inherit from their vampiric progenitors?

>>93925584
>Are you reading on a cracked smartphone?
Yes but I was out in the sun this morning and the day before that so I'm definitely not a vampire.

>>93956458
My one exception for religion in vampire fiction set in the real world is the whole 'non-Christian holy objects still work if the user thinks they're holy', because otherwise you'd have to explain how Asia isn't completely overrun by vampires.

>>93957556
Asia is controlled by other unnatural monsters.

>>93916495
The mandatory strengths I think are
>powerful magic
>physically strong
>difficult to kill

As for weaknesses/other general traits, I'm a bit more flexible, but my go-tos are
>weak to silver/holy weapons, etc.
>need to drink blood obviously
>sunlight (this one I'm rather flexible on because it's kinda dumb honestly, though it can be interesting)
>weakpoint like the heart that causes instant death or massive trauma/weakening if damaged or destroyed

One thing I will say I kinda deviate from is vampires being Undead, at least in the traditional sense, as such a powerful being potentially being vulnerable to cheesy stuff like Turn Undead feels a bit wrong, not to mention being so dissimilar to the typical undead creatures, though vampiric necromancers is a pretty natural trope.

A few interesting things I've thought of to make vampires more interesting and add flavor to them:
>Vampires, owing to their immense durability, can become immune to things like sunlight via "exposure therapy", meaning older and more powerful vampires are exponentially more hardy and difficult to deal with
>Vampires gain more "life force" or whatever from stronger/more magical/more youthful creatures, meaning the blood of fantastical races like elves or fairies is more valuable to them than that of humans or other "lesser" beings
>Vampires don't technically have to be evil (or at least not antagonists), and could even be reasonably expected to make deals with morally flexible parties or nations
>Vampires can "go feral" and turn into mindless, monstrous beasts under certain conditions

I've had others but these are some of the ones I find most interesting or relevant.

>>93959013
I think sunlight is a fair common weakness across vampires, though the exact effect it has is debatable. They COULD function under the sun in a weakened state(read: slightly superhuman and could still ruin the shit out of a normal person without much effort), but as a trade-off they're much more vulnerable and can be killed even without their other weaknesses. So a vampire could function under the sun at near-Captain America levels, but if he's not careful could be simply shot to death by bullets.

But I do like having reasonable vampires. They still have their agendas, but old enough vampires realize making enemies out of everyone is going to get them killed quickly, so they're more than willing to cooperate with humans at times. Even something as simple as "I'll protect humans in my territory from supernatural threats and other vampires if you give me a pint of blood every so often" can be reasonable.

>>93916495
Weaknesses: Sunlight and a dependency on blood
Powers: Eternal life otherwise

Everything else is optional, but vampires aren't much fun without at least some superhuman abilities

>>93960654
Sunlight weakening rather than outright killing is a good tradeoff and I would find it acceptable, it's mainly the more extreme interpretations of "dies immediately if even a sliver of sunlight touches it" I take issue with

And the idea of a reasonable, if manipulative and crafty, vampire worming their way into political legitimacy could make a good campaign or just flavor for one.

Something else I thought of but forgot to add was giving vampires other esoteric powers, like having power of some kind over those whose blood they consume (even if indirectly), perhaps even scaling with how much they've consumed, which could make for interesting plots
>The party needs the vampire count's help, but he requests a small amount of blood from each of them; not only could this empower him, but also give him leverage over the party he may abuse later

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>>93916495
I personally would love to see more vampires that were originally non-human races, do you agree, and how might their powers and weaknesses vary as a result?

>>93916495
They easily become obsessed over attractive members of the opposite sex.

>>93963880
DnD e3 had something called elven vampirism
They fed off of charisma, were ugly, only got out during day time and every vampire had their own weakness
I don't think of them as real vampires
The Drizzt series gave us Pwent and some Drow vampires, they seem the standard bloodsuckers
>Same with Astarion from BG3

>>93963880
Same here. Goblin vampires could be cool if done right. Not sure what weaknesses they might have other than the classic ones though.

>>93975845
>>93967181
>>93963880
>>93961748
>>93959013
>>93955826
>>93950639
>>93946642
>>93940231
lol

>>93963880
I liked the Sengir "family" in MtG's Homelands. They were just a bunch of unrelated fucks living together in a mansion because of vampirism. One was a dwarf, another was a planeswalker so crooked and ancient you couldn't tell what she might have originally been.

>>93916495
Arithmomania is a mandatory flaw for all vampires

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>>93916495
Blood is literally addictive to them if they take more than the bare minimum they need. In exchange, if they drink lots of blood they can manipulate it.

>>93916565
Basically this. Most vampires get this "life force" through blood drinking, but more powerful or esoteric vampires can get it through a life-draining touch, breath draining like Chinese vampires, or other means.

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>>93916495
They should be able to pass as alive when fed, but it should get harder the longer they go without feeding.

>>93917176
Funny how Venice is considered a city that's full of vampires in italian folklore for some reason I can't fathom, but classic vampires that are unable to cross running water would be hard pressed to even enter the place, let alone living in it. In general, Italy would be the last place on Earth where vampires could prosper, yet it's somewhat fashionable to think otherwise both in modern media and old folklore. Conversely, werewolves would logically be a common monster here, due to the fact that the cynocefalii (elite warriors larping as wolves) were a cultural fascination of both the early romans and the lombards, the abundance of forests and mountains we enjoy to this day, a few minor historical villains bearing the nickname "the Wolf" (such as a tyrannical count that was convinced to mend his ways by St. Francis or "The Wolf of Abruzzi", a lombard duke known for his ruthlessness), and the wolf in itself being our national animal in the same way of the bald eagle for americans, the rooster for the french, or the bear for russians. And yet werewolves in Italy as a concept is completely unheard of. Weird.

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>the 7 day autosage is gone

>>93946815
>if they drink human blood they retain their more human appearance. if they subsist on rats or other animals they become more bestial/nosferatu-style.
So the serial killers are Hot enough to make smoke signals, while the repentant, friendly vampires become ugly as sin? That's definitely one way to ensure vampirism is an actual curse.

>>93991274
>Funny how Venice is considered a city that's full of vampires in italian folklore for some reason I can't fathom
Its status as a centre for Mediterranean trade at its height also meant that it by necessity had to be relaxed when it came to religious and cultural restrictions in order to allow traders and other dignitaries from around the sea to come to the city without being harassed by Catholic loonies, leading to frequent clashes with numerous Popes. The result is that it became a lightning rod for aforementioned loonies who wanted to decry ungodliness and all that, with conspiracy theories out the ass. You want Baphomet-tier conspiracies about Muslims? Venice vampires. Jews? Venice vampires. Pagan cultists? Venice vampires. Wealthy merchants who care more about amassing wealth and will subjugate the common God-fearing man to do so? Venice vampires.
There's also a "chicken and egg" thing with your comment on vampires living in Italy. Obviously the typical Italian family would be well-equipped to defend themselves against vampires, but folklore would also create these weaknesses because of that. Would vampires hate Italy about garlic, or do Italians eat garlic because of vampires?

>>93992711
Reddit tier commentary

>>93992711
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_of_the_Night_(Venice)

Venice was way more friendly to the Papacy and way more unsafe for vampires (or other monstruos predators) than popular culture lets on. Even if living in a city were the streets were literally made of running water wasn't going to be an issue, doing crazy vampire shit in one of the most heavily guarded city of medieval Europe, known for hosting a very efficient police force that specialized in nightly activity and could easily get a big help from their archbishop (not to mention alchemists, wizards, rabbis, orthodox priests, citizens of Balkan origin wise to the ways of vampires...) would be. Not to mention that venetian politicians would have completely mogged the most accomplished vampire schemers any time of the day, hands down. The Giovannis wouldn't have lasted a week in the irl Serenissima. As for the garlic thing, italians aren't more likely to consume garlic than brits or frenchies... but are way more likely than them to have access to bibles and crosses and having the faith required to btfo vampires by using them, simply because of their culture. Also, castles and mansions in Italy always had this strange tendency to spontaneously catch fire without explanation or warning, especially if inhabitated by a tyrannical ruler, with the general populace giving absolutely zero fucks (no proper italian has any degree of respect for the ruling class). So, I say that (un)living in Italy, especially during the Middle Ages or Renaissance eras, would be nightmare mode for vampires, regardless of their weaknesses. The very culture and institutions are anathema to them. As I said, werewolves make way more sense being the dominant supernatural menace here than the vampires, ghosts, devils and black magicians. It's as if popular culture has chosen the horror villains we are culturale best equipped to oppose as our national nemeses.

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>>93991303
>the unique IP counter is gone
>now this

>>93993308
>>Venice was way more friendly to the Papacy and way more unsafe for vampires (or other monstruos predators) than popular culture lets on.
Okay but that doesn't make a difference for pop culture. What the government of Venice is actually doing in real life doesn't matter to random people outside of Venice because they don't live there and aren't familiar with the day to day goings on. What matters is the perception. All people hear about is how Venice is home to a bunch of ungodly foreign traders obsessed with wealth and their imaginations run wild.
It's like how every urban city gets stereotyped as a crime-ridden hellhole and every rural town gets stereotyped as a meth-infested hellhole by people who don't live in those places, when in reality most people are chill and just want to go about their days.

>Urbanite from California talking about Venice
lol

>>93993377
You have a point. Even most italians are completely ignorant about how things were actually going in their own country long ago... I bet that, even here, only the most autistic amateur historians know what the Muda system was, how Doges got elected, or how the venetian army and navy were reformed from time to time so the Serenissima could face the hopeless challenges they had to deal with and still come out on top most of the time. Our school system could care less about it, anything that isn't the Risorgimento or WWII, including SPQR, gets only the most basic amount of attention. Still, I personally dislike this basic bitch approach to entertainment: there could be so many cool stories that could be told, so many new concepts that could be explored by just doing a bit of homework. I mean, take the werewolf nobles I've mentioned before: they could be used as a basis for a fresh take on lycanthrope stories. "Lovable rogue condottieri vs. werewolf nobleman" or "local saint debates a werewolf and convinces him to become a force for good" sounds more original than the umpteenth "le viking berserker can turn into a wolfman", "le loup garou that is totally not le beast of Gevaudan terrorizes an hamlet", or the worst of them all, "le britbong werewolves, even if wolves have been le fuckin' extinct in Bongland since 1680".

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>>93916495
Do you like the idea of vampires being able to use blood magic, or should they stick to just consuming it?

>>93993331
based
zoomers dont remember how long threads used to stay up before the lithursday purge

>>93993712
>Medieval stuff
That's easy. Vampires and Gothic stuff in Victorian times is where the real challenge lies.

>>93916495
Vampire weaknesses and strengths are fine. They're very well fleshed out monsters and are popular for a reason. My issue is that other monsters don't have as many weaknesses. Werebeasts are vulnerable to silver and ..that's it. Undead are vulnerable to fire and holy and...pretty much just vampire weaknesses.
What about trolls? Fire. What about dragons? Just stab em big. I feel like vampires are well balanced with a large number of weaknesses to offset their strengths that other monsters just don't have.
>Why do dragons kidnap princesses? Because royal blood is poison to dragons and the thing seeks to kill a rival.
>How do you stop an elemental?
>Gold stabilizes them and makes them lose their forms and hurts them terribly.
Stuff like that

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Power over blood for sure.

>>93916495
Can't remember where I saw it now but there was the idea that staking a vampire doesn't kill it but instead puts it into a kind of stasis. The vampire is essentially trapped inside it's mind without any knowledge from its senses and could be used as a punishment. Spending too long in such a state may drive one mad however.

>9 days

Cry harder

>>94000049
This picture looks like it was drawn by a bleach fan with no creativity.

Vampires also carry pestilence with them, right?

>>93993712
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiess_of_Kaltenbrun

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>>93993712
>in their own country
lol. Italy as we know it today is a product of XIX century unification.

>>94002326
>Let me tell you about your country
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Italy
Italy "as we know it today" was already a concept when most people had yet to discover the wheel.

>>94002889
VGH

>>94002326
Country, Nation, and State are different things, you fucking idiot. The fact that there was no Italian State or Italian National State does not mean that there was no Italian Nation or Italian Country.