Vampire Villains, how to spice them up?

[Hattish Thing]

So, I'm DMing an adventure called Heart of Ice on the forums here, and the story is centered around a group of Level 6 PC's that have been gathered to make their way up the frozen Mt. Malice, to check up on Count Kyrstoff. Krystoff buys large amounts of trading material to keep his castle stocked, so he makes a lot of money for the traders that live in the town at the foot of the mountain. One of the traders is the guy that hired the party. So, they're to make their way up and brave a haunted forest to finally arrive at Castle Krystoff.

Now, he's a vampire of course, and a recent one at that. He kidnapped the workers that guided the caravan up the mountain and promptly ate them. When the PC's arrive at the Castle, a thick and dangerous snowstorm will have come in, trapping the PC's inside to explore the massive castle/mansion thing, and uncover the mystery of the Dread Count!

So, how should I make this guy interesting and different from say... vampires common in the Ravenloft setting? I want to add as much character to him as I can.

[Flickerdart]

There are a whole bunch of alternate vampires in the back of Libris Mortis. Savage Vampires get really nasty, especially when combined with the Girallon Arms soulmeld - they drain a level per claw attack, and don't have a cap on the number of times per round they can drain, unlike standard vampires. There's also a Wisdom-draining vampire, and a few others.

And then of course there's the question - how did he become a vampire? Is his master still nearby? Still alive? Does he have "brothers" that vie for influence with their sire? If it was through a ritual, what kind of ancient secrets do the castle's catacombs fight that might help the PCs combat his power...or become vampires themselves?

Now that he's an immortal in a hereditary monarchy system, is he making plans for that? How does he feel about being Cursed With Awesome?

[Hattish Thing]

There are a whole bunch of alternate vampires in the back of Libris Mortis. Savage Vampires get really nasty, especially when combined with the Girallon Arms soulmeld - they drain a level per claw attack, and don't have a cap on the number of times per round they can drain, unlike standard vampires. There's also a Wisdom-draining vampire, and a few others.

And then of course there's the question - how did he become a vampire? Is his master still nearby? Still alive? Does he have "brothers" that vie for influence with their sire? If it was through a ritual, what kind of ancient secrets do the castle's catacombs fight that might help the PCs combat his power...or become vampires themselves?

Now that he's an immortal in a hereditary monarchy system, is he making plans for that? How does he feel about being Cursed With Awesome?

Well, the Count used to be in charge of a small trio of wizards. He funded the experiments they conducted in a tower nearby. The goal was to create the ultimate life form out of nothing. A sentient and free-thinking flesh-golem. Unfortunately, the wizards did their job too well, and created a horrific monster. The creature killed all three wizards during a presentation they were showing Count Krystoff and his wife. The monster escaped and killed the wife, along with brutally wounding Krystoff. He barely made it back to his castle, struggling through a snowstorm to get there in time. Once he arrived, he quickly conducted a horrific ritual. He sold his soul for immortality, so that he could live forever and one day attempt to bring his beloved back to life. But the demon he swore his soul to tricked him. Krystoff was allowed to live forever, but in a twisted state, having to live on the blood of others to continue his existence, and once he was truly killed... his soul would be eaten by the demon.

So, Krystoff has survived this brief amount of time as an undead by preying on people in the town below. Several females had gone missing, and quickly became his spawn things. Now, he conducts experiments and learns magic in the night, trying desperately to raise his beloved without relying on divine magics.

Or... Hmm... Thoughts! Inspirations!

[Phelix-Mu]

Ever read the Hellsing manga? Or watched Hellsing Ultimate? I'd advise that for an interesting take on the vampire concept. Instead of handsome guy with pointy fangs, more of the slavering madness of teeth and unending hunger that lurks just beyond the realm of sanity. Might work well with your flesh golem concept.

Another concept that is fairly well-touched upon in the classics is experimenting with grafting/chimerism to improve humans. Maybe take this in an Island of Doctor Moreau direction? You already have some Dr. Frankenstein elements, which is awesome material, by the way.

So, my general suggestion is to avoid the stereotype vampire stuff, which is well-dressed guy with weird accent and such, he doesn't eat but drinks red wine suggestively and pays unscrupulous attention to the neckline of any females present, etc. I'd go for more of a sympathetic, tortured soul-type, not quite mad, but severely strained by the task he has set before him. Instead of ignoring vampires not needing to sleep, I'd instead say that this guy doesn't sleep, but his tortured body/mind doesn't respond well. He looks severely fatigued, has a persistent cough, sunken eyes that are underlined with dark purple, like death warmed over. If he looks ill, people aren't likely to suspect vampire, which adds more fun. Remember, this is custom vampirism courtesy of malevolent demonic power that wants to kick this poor sod while he's down, so don't be afraid to much around with the vampire template, especially flavor-wise or in any way that constitutes a bit of a nerf (as the template is pretty ridiculously gangbusters).

So, sickly man toils day and night in his laboratory, but the siren call of the blood draws him. Perhaps he has met the women he ate earlier, and finds thoughts of them distract him from his experiments and mess up his results, so he must eliminate the distraction. Maybe he just intended to send them away or plain old murder them, but was seized by the thirst, erupting into a giant maw of teeth before tearing out their throat like a wild animal and bathing in the spray of gore and blood.

Of course, this was all horrifying, but the count has already seen and survived the horrific, so he just sublimates this into his driving need to bring back his wife.

Or does he? I sense an opportunity here for some Gollum-like moments, lost in the distraction of the moment as he searches for the right piece of paper among his scattered notes. The thirst returns. His mouth is dry. Why? He drank so much. So, so much. Why do these feelings persist? He can't sleep. Real food is like dust. But these newly arrived guests (the party). Suddenly he is behind schedule. Tank #3 needs purged so the new lizard-blood can begin infusing into the sample tissue. Or was it Tank #5? Damn these distractions...so thirsty...*loosens tight collar*...they were so ripe, their blood pumping so vigorously, so alive...*visions of blood spurting during the flesh golem fiasco*...Gotta get back to work. *Pours glass of red wine, drinks half, but tastes nothing, so hurls glass into the fireplace in rage, before breaking down in tears*

Extra points if there is a sympathetic cleric or other do-gooder among the party members that will take an interest in the finer points of the poor Count's mental problems. Extra extra points if the Count really isn't totally lucid about this whole thing and thinks that maybe the party members can help him by doing [random non-helpful thing]. Then he's outraged when it doesn't work, and the whole party witnesses his biggest breakdown yet, as he hurls stuff around and chucks his notes in the fire (but doesn't harm anyone...hehe).

[Hattish Thing]

Ever read the Hellsing manga? Or watched Hellsing Ultimate? I'd advise that for an interesting take on the vampire concept. Instead of handsome guy with pointy fangs, more of the slavering madness of teeth and unending hunger that lurks just beyond the realm of sanity. Might work well with your flesh golem concept.

Another concept that is fairly well-touched upon in the classics is experimenting with grafting/chimerism to improve humans. Maybe take this in an Island of Doctor Moreau direction? You already have some Dr. Frankenstein elements, which is awesome material, by the way.

So, my general suggestion is to avoid the stereotype vampire stuff, which is well-dressed guy with weird accent and such, he doesn't eat but drinks red wine suggestively and pays unscrupulous attention to the neckline of any females present, etc. I'd go for more of a sympathetic, tortured soul-type, not quite mad, but severely strained by the task he has set before him. Instead of ignoring vampires not needing to sleep, I'd instead say that this guy doesn't sleep, but his tortured body/mind doesn't respond well. He looks severely fatigued, has a persistent cough, sunken eyes that are underlined with dark purple, like death warmed over. If he looks ill, people aren't likely to suspect vampire, which adds more fun. Remember, this is custom vampirism courtesy of malevolent demonic power that wants to kick this poor sod while he's down, so don't be afraid to much around with the vampire template, especially flavor-wise or in any way that constitutes a bit of a nerf (as the template is pretty ridiculously gangbusters).

So, sickly man toils day and night in his laboratory, but the siren call of the blood draws him. Perhaps he has met the women he ate earlier, and finds thoughts of them distract him from his experiments and mess up his results, so he must eliminate the distraction. Maybe he just intended to send them away or plain old murder them, but was seized by the thirst, erupting into a giant maw of teeth before tearing out their throat like a wild animal and bathing in the spray of gore and blood.

Of course, this was all horrifying, but the count has already seen and survived the horrific, so he just sublimates this into his driving need to bring back his wife.

Or does he? I sense an opportunity here for some Gollum-like moments, lost in the distraction of the moment as he searches for the right piece of paper among his scattered notes. The thirst returns. His mouth is dry. Why? He drank so much. So, so much. Why do these feelings persist? He can't sleep. Real food is like dust. But these newly arrived guests (the party). Suddenly he is behind schedule. Tank #3 needs purged so the new lizard-blood can begin infusing into the sample tissue. Or was it Tank #5? Damn these distractions...so thirsty...*loosens tight collar*...they were so ripe, their blood pumping so vigorously, so alive...*visions of blood spurting during the flesh golem fiasco*...Gotta get back to work. *Pours glass of red wine, drinks half, but tastes nothing, so hurls glass into the fireplace in rage, before breaking down in tears*

Extra points if there is a sympathetic cleric or other do-gooder among the party members that will take an interest in the finer points of the poor Count's mental problems. Extra extra points if the Count really isn't totally lucid about this whole thing and thinks that maybe the party members can help him by doing [random non-helpful thing]. Then he's outraged when it doesn't work, and the whole party witnesses his biggest breakdown yet, as he hurls stuff around and chucks his notes in the fire (but doesn't harm anyone...hehe).


That's actually absolute perfection regarding what I had in mind. In this adventure, I'm attempting to incorporate old fashioned horror plots and things like that to create a rich setting for them. The party has a cleric, yes, and a female fighter. I imagine the Count would have a thing for the blood of females, due to his incredible attachment to his now dead wife. So, the first night they spend he'd visit her in the night and drink of her blood. I'd PM the player and go through the scene, and that'd be fun. Then when they wake up, perhaps the Count will have laid evidence in other party members rooms? He's a very mind-games type vampire in my mind, not really the tear your heart out type. In life, he meant well, and was very much the good and tortured Doctor Frankenstein type. I intend to have the monster haunt a nearby forest that the PC's must go through to reach the castle, so that'd work well.

Doctor Moreau was a very suspenseful read for me, and the whole idea creeped me out to no end. >.< So, I can absolutely run with that. Sometime during the adventure, the necromancer in the party intends to lead the group to the ruined wizard tower, to search for the wizard's research. I intend to go full on mad science creepfest while they're in there. I can put in some Moreau references in their journals, or perhaps in various rooms left untouched since they died. A vivisection room sounds terrifying, but what possibly monster could be kept in there? Hmm. Decisions!

As for his personality you've laid out there, that sounds perfect. So they'd come in, and he'd invite them to dinner, where they can talk for a bit. I'll be sure to make him sick, exhausted, and incredibly tired. In the nights, strange things would happen and the party would be allowed to investigate. The Count will have all the doors locked and barred by his servants, locking the players in with him while maintaining the excuse that the storm was too extreme outside. Separating the party is a brilliant idea, I think. Each one of them lost in the mansions in the pitch dark, the mad count loose inside as well.

But what job would the count have? What would be his alias for the caravan gone missing, or for the paperwork and magical research he does frequently? Perhaps he assumes the guise of a rare disease specialist?

[Phelix-Mu]

Ooh, rare disease specialist is good. I am put in mind of one of my favorite episodes of my favorite tv version of Sherlock Holmes.

Or, maybe he is an exotic animal collector/zoologist. This gives him a good excuse to have mounted animals/taxidermy work everywhere, as well as a ready excuse as he hastily shuts the door to his dissection lab taxidermy workshop.

Oh, man, you can really go nuts with the references here, too. Maybe he has an ocd thing about washing his hands. Special bonus xp for anyone that sees the Macbeth reference early on without spoiling it in-game. Overscrubbed hands are classic faux-psychology evidence of guilt, and maybe a clue mid-investigation that not all is well with the good Count.

Finally, I'd like to throw in a bit of a complication or sideplot, if you will. Perhaps when his wife died, she was pregnant. Now the ghost of an unborn child wanders the castle, given intelligence by [evil forces], powers that be, or maybe by a fragment of the mother that lived on in the child. The ghost is benevolent, but the Count can't see the ghost, so the ghost is quite lonely. It may or may not know about the experiments, but I'm sure in its wanderings it has discovered some of the castle's secrets.

Now you have ghost child. I think that would mean a proverbial Royal Flush of classic horror.

[Hattish Thing]

Ooh, rare disease specialist is good. I am put in mind of one of my favorite episodes of my favorite tv version of Sherlock Holmes.

Or, maybe he is an exotic animal collector/zoologist. This gives him a good excuse to have mounted animals/taxidermy work everywhere, as well as a ready excuse as he hastily shuts the door to his dissection lab taxidermy workshop.

Oh, man, you can really go nuts with the references here, too. Maybe he has an ocd thing about washing his hands. Special bonus xp for anyone that sees the Macbeth reference early on without spoiling it in-game. Overscrubbed hands are classic faux-psychology evidence of guilt, and maybe a clue mid-investigation that not all is well with the good Count.

Finally, I'd like to throw in a bit of a complication or sideplot, if you will. Perhaps when his wife died, she was pregnant. Now the ghost of an unborn child wanders the castle, given intelligence by [evil forces], powers that be, or maybe by a fragment of the mother that lived on in the child. The ghost is benevolent, but the Count can't see the ghost, so the ghost is quite lonely. It may or may not know about the experiments, but I'm sure in its wanderings it has discovered some of the castle's secrets.

Now you have ghost child. I think that would mean a proverbial Royal Flush of classic horror.

Which version? I recently started watching the BBC modern version, with Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch. Quite well-written in my opinion.

Hmm... Well, let's think. What does he need for his research into bringing his dead wife back to life? Well, he has no magic, so it'll be a scientific way. He was a man of science, never magic, he left that to his wizard team. So, he'd need something to electrify the body, since I'm going with the traditional method of using electricity or power to jumpstart a body. So, he'd probably have some magic wands of lightning bolt built into two altars overlooking a work table. There'd most likely be bits and pieces of organs everywhere, since he'd go about replacing the organs that had been squashed and destroyed during the monster's attack. So, he'd need an excuse to have fresh organs all over his lab. He could have easily gotten those from some of the caravan guards. Hell, he could probably have some of them still alive in the dungeons, all half-vivisected and drained, left to die. I intend to make his laboratory fairly frightening, with stairs that lead up to the castle roof. That's where his final stand will most likely take place, leaving him to be killed and fall off the ramparts, supposedly down the mountain and to his doom!

Oh, perfect. Macbeth references are always wonderful. I think I'll give him a hand thing. Maybe absurdly clean hands, with perfectly manicured nails, but an overall look of dreadful exhaustion and wear? It can be a nervous tic of his. I intend to have him meet the players dressed in his dark brown Victorian cloth, with perhaps a lab coat topping it. Yes, I think the taxidermy thing could make up for the blood on his lab jackets, and things like that. He'll have plenty carpeting of fur around, so it'd make sense. He'll have bolted most of the windows shut due to his fear of the monster returning to find him, so that'll add up to the creepiness factor. Oh, wait! The first individual to be visited into the night and bitten by The Count, will be able to see the ghostly child alone. Only those bitten by him will be able to see the girl. Do you think that'd add to some paranoia? The castle will be very old fashioned horror, while I intend to have his monster loose in the haunted forest, to sort of stalk them. When they find the thing, it'll reveal that it simply wanted to talk to them... Or perhaps it should be maddened and hostile, in grief seeing as it murdered a pregnant woman in it's rage?

[Phelix-Mu]

This version. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086661/) Oft re-aired on American PBS stations. I am a huge fan of the Benedict Cumberbatch reimagining of the character. But Jeremy Brett will always be THE Sherlock Holmes in my mind. His embodiment of the ex-thief, oft manically bored, addiction-prone Holmes was great, and his acting (along with the sparkling Victorian sets and costumes) places Holmes in his proper place as the square peg in the round hole of Victorian society and thinking. Several of the episodes in that series are among some of the best television mystery dramas that I've ever seen (and I watch way too much of that).

I think the paranoia is good. Especially if the invisible ghost makes the party worry that the insanity is contagious.

As for the return-to-life process, I was picturing the classic electricity combined with less of the butchered look of Frankenstein and more of the animal-hybrid look. By using something like lizard blood (lizards known for their ability to regenerate) and cryo-stasis (or a bacta-tank like thing to preserve the body), one could avoid the decay issues. Since we are using pseudo-science in a fantasy world, you might even toss in some dissected trolls/troll grafts, since trolls really are borderline unkillable by mundane standards. If you really want to get crazy, use insects to help preserve the body and/or clean away dead flesh; careful about squick factor overload, though.

[atemu1234]

I made the vampire templates more interesting in my campaigns by including other templates in them. I started calling them bloodlines. For example, I made one line of vampires have the Ravenous template from Dragon Compendium. Another they encountered had the Inveigler template from Advanced Bestiary. It was very interesting, all things considered.

[Hattish Thing]

This version. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086661/) Oft re-aired on American PBS stations. I am a huge fan of the Benedict Cumberbatch reimagining of the character. But Jeremy Brett will always be THE Sherlock Holmes in my mind. His embodiment of the ex-thief, oft manically bored, addiction-prone Holmes was great, and his acting (along with the sparkling Victorian sets and costumes) places Holmes in his proper place as the square peg in the round hole of Victorian society and thinking. Several of the episodes in that series are among some of the best television mystery dramas that I've ever seen (and I watch way too much of that).

I think the paranoia is good. Especially if the invisible ghost makes the party worry that the insanity is contagious.

As for the return-to-life process, I was picturing the classic electricity combined with less of the butchered look of Frankenstein and more of the animal-hybrid look. By using something like lizard blood (lizards known for their ability to regenerate) and cryo-stasis (or a bacta-tank like thing to preserve the body), one could avoid the decay issues. Since we are using pseudo-science in a fantasy world, you might even toss in some dissected trolls/troll grafts, since trolls really are borderline unkillable by mundane standards. If you really want to get crazy, use insects to help preserve the body and/or clean away dead flesh; careful about squick factor overload, though.


Oh, hey! I watched a few episodes of that on Netflix a while ago, I believe. I think they took it off though. Not many people appreciate older mystery dramas anymore. I don't remember much of the plots though... So if you remember the title of the specific episode you were referencing, perhaps I can take a look at it! :smallsmile:

Mhm. I don't think sanity can really be contagious, but the party might think it some kind of disease, or perhaps the character just went a bit crazy. So, that'd work.

I think troll blood, plus maybe yuan-ti blood could be mixed into something that'd fit that. Gives him an excuse to have a few tanks of blood swirling about, with perhaps some kind of wiring attached to he to pump and transfuse the bloodwork. That'd make sense, and also be really, really gross should the tanks get broken some time during it. I think troll skin grafts would be a bit much though... Well, actually, it could make sense. He was so desperate to bring her back, he pretty much completely ruined her flesh in doing so. I can imagine if he does manage to bring her back, she'd be insanely unhappy with it, and possibly suicidal. If I woke up from death having been skinned and grafted with nasty troll stuff... ew. :smallyuk:

Should he manage to bring her back sometime during the adventure, or?

---
Edit: Oh, hi guy! I actually have never heard of an Invgleider? What are they like?

[Vorandril]

I like to add peppers to the stew when using Vampi-

Oh. Not that way?

Then my greatest suggestion is to start where you want them to be when they introduce themselves into the story. Then ask "How did they get here?" Once for emotionally, and once for physically. Then after you have those two answers, ask why they chose that way. Then ask Why you got that answer. Repeat until you're satisfied. =)

Just my thoughts on the matter. Have fun. :smallbiggrin:

[Phelix-Mu]

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes continuation of the original with Jeremy Brett had "The Eligible Bachelor." "The Illustrious Client" was another good one. I think the one with the disease expert was "Shoscombe Old Place," and was quite good. Won't spoil it for you, but the disease expert is a really diabolical figure. If you are closely following Sherlock, though, and not otherwise familiar with Holmes' stories, you might want to avoid spoilers, as Sherlock seems to be taking new spins on the classic adventures, but the originals nevertheless remove some of the mystery.

Amazon seems to have gotten their fingers on the episodes, so finding them for free online is unlikely.

EDIT: As to bringing the wife back, I'd go for it later on, if the party hasn't screwed things up too much. A good concept is to leave it up to the party whether to awaken her or not, maybe some question about whether it's safe to put her down (her soul is likely in bad shape and likely to haunt, but maybe less damaged if she wakes up and is given help). Great moral dilemma.

[atomicwaffle]

Vampire Blackguard.

give it a truly heinous mount like a basilisk, or a displacer beast.

[Vhaidara]

Hatter, I request including warnings before you post these things for PbPs on these forums. I nearly read that post.

[Hattish Thing]

Hatter, I request including warnings before you post these things for PbPs on these forums. I nearly read that post.

I didn't know you even came over to these parts. Quick! Go! Hide your innocence! Hopefully nothing was spoiled for you.

[Jakodee]

I use 2 main ways to show a vampire becoming evil. The first is to have them be a savage monster. The second is to make them a magnificent/horrific emotionless chess master.

[Flickerdart]

I use 2 main ways to show a vampire becoming evil. The first is to have them be a savage monster. The second is to make them a magnificent/horrific emotionless chess master.
Vampires are evil by default. It's kind of hard not to be when your source of sustenance is delicious people-blood.

[ShurikVch]

Vampires are evil by default. It's kind of hard not to be when your source of sustenance is delicious people-blood. Vampire very well may not to be evil. Let's see:
1. Not to be evil to begin with
2. Class with access to Cure X/Heal and Restoration
3. Succeed on Will save to keep your alignment
4. Hire a young healthy person who have fetish about being blood-drained
5. Bon appetit! :smallwink:
6. Afterwards, fix aforementioned person with Cure X/Heal and Restoration
When person die from old age, repeat steps 4 - 6
Is it evil?

[Hattish Thing]

Thank you very much for your advise, fellow DM's of the playground! I think I got what I was looking for. Now to write a nice few introduction encounters that won't slow the thing down...

[nysisobli]

I generally play pathfinder, but here are some links to various vampire types on the srd

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/vetala-vampire-cr-2


http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/vampire-jiang-shi

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/nosferatu

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/dread-vampire-cr-3

[Flickerdart]

Vampire very well may not to be evil. Let's see:
1. Not to be evil to begin with
2. Class with access to Cure X/Heal and Restoration
3. Succeed on Will save to keep your alignment
4. Hire a young healthy person who have fetish about being blood-drained
5. Bon appetit! :smallwink:
6. Afterwards, fix aforementioned person with Cure X/Heal and Restoration
When person die from old age, repeat steps 4 - 6
Is it evil?
"Alignment: Always evil (any)."

[Blackhawk748]

"Alignment: Always evil (any)."

Get that out of here!! On another note, i would actually look to Ravenloft for some awesome mechanical stuff for vampires. Like their Salient abilities which would allow you to customize your Vamp more.

I am going to second the Disease Doctor idea, id probably use Rogue for the base.

[ShurikVch]

"Alignment: Always evil (any)."
From the Savage Species, Chapter 11: Becoming a Monster
ALIGNMENT CHANGE
If a character transforms to a kind of monster that always has a particular alignment, and the character did not originally have that alignment, the transforming character makes a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the goal monster's Hit Dice + the goal monster's Wis modifier) to avoid an involuntary alignment change.

[Flickerdart]

From the Savage Species, Chapter 11: Becoming a Monster
SS is 3.0, and not terribly relevant; it's even less relevant for NPCs that were never not vampires.

[ShurikVch]

SS is 3.0, and not terribly relevant; it's even less relevant for NPCs that were never not vampires. 3.0 is still relevant unless there are some 3.5 stuff which said different
"for NPCs that"... what? I don't get it, can you re-phrase it differently, English is not my language

[Socksy]

3.0 is still relevant unless there are some 3.5 stuff which said different
"for NPCs that"... what? I don't get it, can you re-phrase it differently, English is not my language

"For NPCs who have always been vampires while in the campaign", I think.