Vampirization and the fight against Team Evil

[natrl20]

The question on my mind is:
How much will vampirization help against the spell casting of RC and Xykon?
Anyone knowledgable about the mechanics of vampirism and high level arcane/divine casting want to weigh in for me?

Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Durkon and perhaps other members of the Order (maybe all of them?) will be both a) vampires and b) fighting against Team Evil (either of which might well turn out to be false), will vampirism help level the playing field?

[[sWc]Konman]

vamps will be nothing but playthings for redcloak. see what he did to the mystic theruge chicks undead friends, and you have a general idea of what will happen to durkula, and possibly a vamped belkster.

[hamishspence]

Those were wights- very weak.

That said, Redcloak was able to stun Soon with his rebuke attempts- even with vampire turning resistance, I could see Durkon & Belkar having issues.

[Winter]

If Durkon and Belkar are level 15 or 16 and Redcloak 17, then the Turning Check of Redcloak has a pretty solid chance to get through, even with the +4 resistance.

[Sir_Leorik]

One of the reasons Durkon will be vulnerable is that Turning/Rebuking Undead is based on the level of the Cleric vs. the hit dice of the Undead (plus Turn resistance). Redcloak is probably 17th level and has a decent Charisma score. Durkon does not have any feats of magic items that would make him resistant to being rebuked.

Now if they were using 4E rules Durkon could rely on his high Will Defense to protect him from an NPC cleric with a Rebuke Undead Encounter Attack. :smallbiggrin:

[Emmit Svenson]

In life, Durkon was likely to have taken Improved Turning and/or other feats that improved his ability to turn undead--he just hated 'em so much!

Those powers would improve his ability to Bolster Undead himself. Also, becoming a vampire has dramatically increased his charisma score, further improving his ability to bolster himself.

Were I given the choice of controlling a 14th level vampire cleric or a 17th level cleric in a fight, I'd pick the 14th level vampire cleric if the 17th level cleric didn't automatically know his opponent was undead and had no chance to prepare in advance. Otherwise I'd pick the 17th level cleric.

[natrl20]

So what about other order members?
Like, hypothetically if one way or another Roy, Elan, Haley, Belkar, and Varsuvius all got turned? Would the order be a match for Xykon and RC then?
I know they'd all improve in terms of survivability, with extra HP for V especially.
And, for example, Vampire Roy would have been able to escape his fatal fall.
But, could X still just roll everyone by spamming meteor swarm and energy drain?
-M

[Snails]

I agree with Emmit Svenson. Redcloak has not reason to even attempt a rebuke until he sees a negative energy effect fail spectacularly. It is not difficult for Durkon to bolster himself and Belkar. It seems likely he does have the Improved Turning feat.