Half-Vampire Bull

[No brains]

Those expecting a vampire minotaur thread, out! That's not the bull I mean.

I want to make a character that's a half-vampire, but some problems are getting in the way.

1. If a half-vampire takes the blood drain ability, do these 5 temporary hit points stack? The stackability of temp hp is often called into question, but I think for draining attacks like this one, the temp hp would be cumulative if from a longer meal.

2. Should this half-vampire become undead, what happens to the blood drain ability? It number of uses per day is affected by your constitution, but losing the blood drinking ability in becoming 'more vampire' doesn't make a lot of sense for me.

Varied interpretations welcome.

[Keld Denar]

1 is possibly one of the most fervently debated topics on any message board. There is a ton of evidence to support both sides, and nothing damning enough to rule against either interpretation. If you allow them to stack, things like the Dream Vestige (LM) work, but that seems to contradict the written text. If you follow the written text, it is impossible for a Dream Vestige to reproduce. It all comes down to whether or not seperate blood drainings are seperate sources, or muliple applications of the same source. Each DM is entitled to rule seperately, but its best to stay consistant.

2 since an ability that is - is different than 0, I'd say that this removes the upper limit on how many times you can use Blood Drain in a given hour. That upper limit doesn't matter most of the time anyway, as you have to either be grappling or have a helpless victim in order to use Blood Drain anyway. Its not that good of an ability.

[No brains]

1. Well damn.

2. The real kicker I wanted for the flavor of this particular character was that he had crappy constitution, but was still an awesome fighter. One thing he would do is capture bad guys and hold them hostage until a fight was brewing, and then he would painlessly execute them by sucking out all their blood (for a big boost of hp) while they were unconscious.

The way I wanted it to work (WARNING: Fluffy indulgence of carrying out idea in D&D form) was that his blood drain could get him by until he got a custom necropolitan template that also gave him unholy toughness so that he didn't need to use the power unless he needed a huge boost for an extra special fight. It would fit in with the story of the character maturing and gaining control of his desire for blood.

As I warned it would be a weird story-driven adventure, but if I wanted Blood Drain to work this way, is it really too unbalanced to have it in the game?

[true_shinken]

I remember someone pointing out at 339 that Rules Compendium specifically states that temp hp stacks regardless of source.

[SPoilaaja]

Temporary hit points gained from multiple applications
of the same effect don’t stack. Instead, the highest number
of temporary hit points gained from that effect apply.
If temporary hit points are gained from multiple, different
sources that stack, keep track of those sources and when they
were gained separately. Any damage taken is fi rst subtracted
from the oldest effect that granted temporary hit points.
When those are gone, subtract damage from the next oldest
effect, and so on.

No stacking.

[Keld Denar]

That looks like an FAQ answer...

I think the crux of the arguement comes down to whether or not multiple bad touches are considered the same effect or not. If each touch is a different source, then they would stack. If each touch is the same source, they would not. Unfortunately, there is no definite statement that indicates either way.