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View Full Version : Help me design fun drawbacks to being undead? (Playing 4e, but other system ideas OK)



DhampyreDebuff
2013-04-19, 04:25 AM
One of my players done got hisself unkilled, and I'm trying to make the experience a fun one. I'll be giving him powers and attributes from the Revenant race, but this makes him overpowered compared to the rest of the party.

Aside from the basic vulnerable 10 radiant, maybe -2 acrobatics type stuff, what struggles/debuffs would you guys give an undead player?

I'm especially fond of working in the Dhampyre power "Blood Drain" somehow. Here's a power card:

Blood Drain
Vigor rushes through your body as you drain life energy
from your victim
Encounter ✦ Healing
Standard Action Melee touch
Target: One living creature you have grabbed
Attack: Strength +2 vs. Fortitude, Constitution +2 vs.
Fortitude, or Dexterity +2 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d4 + Constitution modifier damage, and you can
spend a healing surge.
Increase to +4 bonus and 2d4 + Constitution
modifier damage at 11th level; +6 bonus and 3d4 +
Constitution modifier damage at 21st level.
Special: When you select the Vampiric Heritage
feat, you determine whether you use Strength,
Constitution, or Dexterity to attack with this power.

I was thinking maybe of making it the only way for him to heal, but that might be too harsh. The party is evil as all get-out, so he would have no qualms about doing it on weak, innocent NPCs, but it still seems unwieldy.

Can you guys think of a way to make it work? Can you come up with a fun debuff of your own? Maybe he's terrified of heights, now. Only feels comfortable with his feet sinking into the soil. I don't know.

What would you guys do in my situation?

JusticeZero
2013-04-19, 01:11 PM
Well, for one, all the things that were exciting or interesting to be passionate about when alive? Ashen. If you're a goodygoody, giving money to an orphan makes you smile. Now that you're dead, not only is the giving unrewarding, but the coin itself seems a bit silly. "So.. you give this flat chip to the immature creature and it is supposed to.. make you feel better? Or to make you rage because of the moving of the chip? ...I... don't completely understand why this used to make sense."

Flickerdart
2013-04-19, 02:05 PM
Well, for one, all the things that were exciting or interesting to be passionate about when alive? Ashen. If you're a goodygoody, giving money to an orphan makes you smile. Now that you're dead, not only is the giving unrewarding, but the coin itself seems a bit silly. "So.. you give this flat chip to the immature creature and it is supposed to.. make you feel better? Or to make you rage because of the moving of the chip? ...I... don't completely understand why this used to make sense."
Surely the gift of eternal life would be much more meaningful than any piece of metal! Hey kid, come into this dark alleyway with me for a sec. :smallamused:

BarnabasBailey
2013-04-19, 10:06 PM
Here's a thought: Make him hated.

The undead in general are about as welcome in a given place as any of the other myriad threats to the populace, and once you go all zombie, it gets kind of hard to hide that from people. It could wind up seriously affecting his ability to interact with the world at large.

In fact, if you were feeling particularly sadistic, give him a zombie hunter or two as recurring antagonists. People specifically designed to hunt him down, who see him as a blight on the world that needs to be stopped. That undeath is going to seem like a liability when the baddies start hiring the Belmont clan to deal with him.

DhampyreDebuff
2013-04-20, 04:53 AM
Here's a thought: Make him hated.

The undead in general are about as welcome in a given place as any of the other myriad threats to the populace, and once you go all zombie, it gets kind of hard to hide that from people. It could wind up seriously affecting his ability to interact with the world at large.

In fact, if you were feeling particularly sadistic, give him a zombie hunter or two as recurring antagonists. People specifically designed to hunt him down, who see him as a blight on the world that needs to be stopped. That undeath is going to seem like a liability when the baddies start hiring the Belmont clan to deal with him.

Ooh, now why didn't I think of this? I've got a nice paladin all set up already.

I like these suggestions!