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View Full Version : Making a Shadowrun (4th E) Vampire



Jeivar
2010-09-14, 01:31 PM
My friend and I are trying to set up a minor Shadowrun game with freakish characters. He's cobbling together a pseudo-werewolf (since he feels the loup garou sucks), and I took a look at the vampire template. I only ever dipped my toes into the previous Shadowrun system, I've never played the new one, and I don't have access to the book right now.
How do I create a decent vampire character, given that the template costs a whooping 100 points?

I was planning to make just a pretty basic Blade/Underworld-esque Gun-And-Sword type vampire assassin/fighter, but I'm open to other suggestions.

comicshorse
2010-09-14, 04:11 PM
Ok I'm terrible at making an efficient character though so take all advice with a ton of salt.

The Vampire package is nice but not terribly good at hurting people ( it's great at avoiding you getting hurt) AND you can't take cyberware so go for magic. If you want a Blade type character then go for the Physical Adept which will give you a nice choice of combat powers

Because you can't have cyberware, go for gadgets. Anti-flash and smartgunlink in your shades, audio buds with enhanced hearing built in, that kind of thing.

Turning into Mist is great. In a game where half the goal is to get where other people don't want you to be this is a huge edge BUT you turn to mist you're gear doesn't. This will lead to you wandering naked and unarmed in hostile places, learn unarmed combat and remember dead guards are a source of armour, weapons and a wonderful boost to your Stats as you drain their essence.

Just because you're a mist doesn't mean your unhurtable and unspottable. Mages and Spirits will do both, don't get cocky.

Immunity to posions is also good. Carry gas grenades, you never have to worry about getting affected ( but make sure the rest of the group are aware of this so they can pack gas masks).

Tasers are great. They hurt the enemy and stack other penalties on top. Invest in shock gloves and shock prods and a Defiance taser and remember if they're unconcious but not dead, you can still drink them.

Which leads me to the most important rule of all : Do not piss of your fellow Runners. Make sure they are ok with you feeding on people, if they're not ,DON'T DO IT. In daylight you are pretty poor and you are really going to need them.
( Of course what they can't see won't bother them:smallsmile:)

Hope that helps

DeltaEmil
2010-09-14, 05:33 PM
I think some part in the book that allows you to play vampires and other equally stupid stuff does allow you to take cyberware, it just has to be delta-grade, with an even more expensive operation needed to supress the regenerative abilities of the vampire (and other similar creatures).

Keep in mind that mundanes can still hurt you, even in mist-form, simply by throwing a wooden object at you, forcing you to turn back immediately into normal form, where they might (and will) fill your body with enough lead to kill you anyway (or they'll just put a bullet in your head).

comicshorse
2010-09-14, 06:29 PM
Keep in mind that mundanes can still hurt you, even in mist-form, simply by throwing a wooden object at you, forcing you to turn back immediately into normal form, where they might (and will) fill your body with enough lead to kill you anyway (or they'll just put a bullet in your head).

True but they're going to have to have some pretty specialised knowledge to know to do that

Lamech
2010-09-14, 07:25 PM
Really? 'cause I know how to slay like... 5 kinds of vampires. And their all fictional. So I would assume (although I know nothing of shadowrun), that every single guard would know basic anti-vamp tricks.

comicshorse
2010-09-14, 07:31 PM
yeah but do any of the fictional vampires tell you how to stop them in mist form ? Cause the only thing I remember EVER reading about that was an old comic which suggested using garlic ( which doesn't work on Shadowrun vampires).
Nor for that matter will holy water, crosses, sticky rice or any one of a dozen other anti-vampire methods suggested in fiction
That's the trouble in Shadowrun the magical has become real but not all of the stories apply. Dragons exist but they don't want a virgin sacrifice they want controlling interest in your corporation, elves may like bows but they prefer assault cannons and the troll isn't hiding under a bridge but serving you at StufferShack

Lamech
2010-09-14, 07:37 PM
True, but if I can learn how to slay a totally fictional monster, and several forms of it with out trouble and it wouldn't ever help me survive, in shadowrun one can presumably simply walk down to the library and look up "weaknesses of various magical jerks", and learn what works. Even if some guards are stupid and lazy, and the training is poor, at least some guards will want to know how to deal with things that might rip their face off.

BRC
2010-09-14, 07:41 PM
And if stories start going around about a vampire B&E specialist misting their way into secure facilities, security guards will be trained and equipped to handle such threats.

Jeivar
2010-09-15, 01:48 AM
Which leads me to the most important rule of all : Do not piss of your fellow Runners. Make sure they are ok with you feeding on people, if they're not ,DON'T DO IT. In daylight you are pretty poor and you are really going to need them.
( Of course what they can't see won't bother them:smallsmile:)

Hope that helps

Heh. You don't need to worry about ethical issues within my Runner group. :smallsmile:
Does anyone have any ideas on statting out the basic attributes and still leave some points left for skills?

comicshorse
2010-09-15, 08:51 AM
Carefully, you are just going to have to accept some rotten stats. Try using Str as a dump. For hand-to-hand combat shock gloves don't require strength, for melee use shock prods or mono-filament weapons which also don't use Strength. For fighting naked and without weapons, there's a Physical Adept power ( Nerve Strike, I think) which doesn't require strength.

Also for a bit of a cheat use the Infertile flaw from the Runner Companion. It means you can't create other Vampires, not something I've ever seen come up in a Shadowrun game so its practically free points


And if stories start going around about a vampire B&E specialist misting their way into secure facilities, security guards will be trained and equipped to handle such threats.

True but there are so many weird creatures in Shadowrun security can't be prepared for them all. So leave no witnesses so the story doesn't get out

DeltaEmil
2010-09-15, 11:22 AM
Killing all guards only makes it more difficult to break into another corporation, as the guards there will have reinforcements in form of mages, watchers and spirits being more on edge, and be on a higher alert level.

Also, with most guards having cybereyes anyway (or any other form of recording stuff), the forensics will quickly find out what special ability the assailant had, and conclude it was something awakened (and once turning into mist, immediately know it's a vampire). Unless the vampire begins to rip out all eyes and squashes them so that they can't be used afterwards, but that's not an easy task, and takes a lot of time, and will only lead to investigators doubling their efforts to find the crazy psychopath who steals eyes.

Notice also that with the exception of some hermit living under a rock, everybody has access to the 6. world's internet, the Matrix, and looking up the weakness of paranormal beings is easy. In some cases, the security guards will perhaps even have a supporting program in their cybercommlinks that automatically tells them what weakness the other thing has.

The mooks of the late 21st century don't have to be wired like a cyberzombie or be capable of using magic like Howling Coyote blowing up a few mountains to be dangerous. They can and will have access to the strongest power: Knowledge.

BRC
2010-09-15, 11:37 AM
The mooks of the late 21st century don't have to be wired like a cyberzombie or be capable of using magic like Howling Coyote blowing up a few mountains to be dangerous. They can and will have access to the strongest power: Knowledge.
Knowledge, and Bullets. They also have Bullets.
Remember, in Shadowrun, more than most games, one random mook guard can get lucky (They don't even have to be particularly lucky) and get a shot off, sending the entire facility on alert. If he hits you, you can be crippled, taking penalties to everything, and trailing blood all over the place.
"Killing every guard in the facility" is an incredibly dangerous endeavor. You may win, but you'll end up riddled with bullets, and depending on the facility in question, you'll probably have a heavy armed response team inbound.

Plus, while you might have gotten inside unseen, you almost certainly got caught on camera while eliminating witnesses.

comicshorse
2010-09-15, 11:38 AM
Killing all guards only makes it more difficult to break into another corporation, as the guards there will have reinforcements in form of mages, watchers and spirits being more on edge, and be on a higher alert level.

Also, with most guards having cybereyes anyway (or any other form of recording stuff), the forensics will quickly find out what special ability the assailant had, and conclude it was something awakened (and once turning into mist, immediately know it's a vampire). Unless the vampire begins to rip out all eyes and squashes them so that they can't be used afterwards, but that's not an easy task, and takes a lot of time, and will only lead to investigators doubling their efforts to find the crazy psychopath who steals eyes.

Notice also that with the exception of some hermit living under a rock, everybody has access to the 6. world's internet, the Matrix, and looking up the weakness of paranormal beings is easy. In some cases, the security guards will perhaps even have a supporting program in their cybercommlinks that automatically tells them what weakness the other thing has.

The mooks of the late 21st century don't have to be wired like a cyberzombie or be capable of using magic like Howling Coyote blowing up a few mountains to be dangerous. They can and will have access to the strongest power: Knowledge.

I said kill all witnesses not all the guards. Only those who saw you actually turn into mist count. Which should be none if the job goes right.

Not sure all guards would have cybereyes. They are expensive, particulalrly if you're trying to equip every member of your security. Even if they do they are likely to have limited functions, low-light and thermo seem better options as I would imagine recording would be an expensive option ( not sure where you'd store the recording anyway).

Forensics is dodgy this is a magic power after all, there is no reason it should leave any physical trace. Also there are paranatural critters that can do it and Spirit materilization could easily be mistaken for it

The Matrix link I honestly hadn't thought of and is a good point. I'd just point out that Magic is still a relatively unknown quantity, there are probably several sources with differing claims. Which do you pick ?
Also the Vampires are well organized it would be in their interests to suppress information on their powers or at the very least sponsor deliberately false research and publications.


Plus, while you might have gotten inside unseen, you almost certainly got caught on camera while eliminating witnesses.

That's why you run as part of a team, the group's Decker should have handled that.

That said I have to say I agree with everything BRC said

DeltaEmil
2010-09-15, 12:13 PM
I said kill all witnesses not all the guards. Only those who saw you actually turn into mist count. Which should be none if the job goes right.Yeah, better prepare for the worst than to assume everything is going to run as planned. :p

Not sure all guards would have cybereyes. They are expensive, particulalrly if you're trying to equip every member of your security. Even if they do they are likely to have limited functions, low-light and thermo seem better options as I would imagine recording would be an expensive option ( not sure where you'd store the recording anyway).Cybereyes are dirt-cheap in 4th edition, and are all automatically equipped with an image link, and recording unit. Also, data space is assumed to have progressed sufficiently enough that you can record all day long before having to delete stuff, and most of the time, it's uploaded on the matrix.

Forensics is dodgy this is a magic power after all, there is no reason it should leave any physical trace. Also there are paranatural critters that can do it and Spirit materilization could easily be mistaken for itI was thinking about mundane forensics, although magical forensic means surely will not help the vampire-dude.

The Matrix link I honestly hadn't thought of and is a good point. I'd just point out that Magic is still a relatively unknown quantity, there are probably several sources with differing claims. Which do you pick ? The one by hermetic mages, as they're the awakened dudes who are trying to make magic comprehensible for mundane Joe and Jane. Unless I live in the NAN, then I use the online manual written by shamans (technology is the great equalizer).
Also, it's been roughly 50-70 years since magic has returned. It has by then become part of everyday's life, and there's enough research being done on every imaginable (and unimaginable) magical subjet that exists.

Also the Vampires are well organized it would be in their interests to suppress information on their powers or at the very least sponsor deliberately false research and publications.No vampire organization is ever going to remotely approach the ressources of any single AAA-corporation, even if they were as rich as Scrooge McDuck and were the kings and emperors of their own country somewhere (like the imbecilic Immortal Elves, who are so dumb that they believe being isolationistic pricks would bring a D&D-fantasy-elven empire back, but failing miserably because they have no idea of any sorts of economics - Tyr Tairngyre, land of utter fail, hehe). And the mega-corporations are those who are sponsoring and doing the research, to defend themselves, to make money, to defend themselves from those who would want to make money from them without their consent, and to make money from those who would like to profit.

In addition, there's of course open-source and free-floating information that not even the media-megacorporations have been able to control reliably, and they've been trying since the Awakening.

Jeivar
2010-09-15, 01:34 PM
Okay. But does any of that have something to do with statting out a vampire character?

comicshorse
2010-09-15, 01:49 PM
Not a lot really:smalleek:

All I can do ( don't have my books where I currently am) is reiterate :


Carefully, you are just going to have to accept some rotten stats. Try using Str as a dump. For hand-to-hand combat shock gloves don't require strength, for melee use shock prods or mono-filament weapons which also don't use Strength. For fighting naked and without weapons, there's a Physical Adept power ( Nerve Strike, I think) which doesn't require strength.

Also for a bit of a cheat use the Infertile flaw from the Runner Companion. It means you can't create other Vampires, not something I've ever seen come up in a Shadowrun game so its practically free points