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View Full Version : Vampires and Werewolves - in SPACE! [help!]



Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-09, 05:58 AM
I'm planning on running a d20 cool-overload game in which I'll blend D&D, World of Darkness, d20 Modern and d20 Future.

The only thing that's giving me trouble is the possibility of Player Character vamps and werewolves, in space and on other planets. Their weaknesses and powers are tied in to the Earth / Moon / Sun system. I want to find ways to let the vamps and werewolves travel into the galaxy without nerfing their powers or removing their vulnerabilities.

The Sunlight thing for vamps - if a vampire is on a space ship, is he vulnerable? Similarly, is he vulnerable to other stars' sunlight? If he's wearing a spacesuit, is he vulnerable?

If a werewolf leaves the Earth / Moon system, when does their lycanthropy manifest?

Any help on coming up with pseudo-science / magical mechanics / convincing blags will be greatly appreciated! :smallbiggrin:

Hopeless
2008-03-09, 06:11 AM
I'm planning on running a d20 cool-overload game in which I'll blend D&D, World of Darkness, d20 Modern and d20 Future.

The only thing that's giving me trouble is the possibility of Player Character vamps and werewolves, in space and on other planets. Their weaknesses and powers are tied in to the Earth / Moon / Sun system. I want to find ways to let the vamps and werewolves travel into the galaxy without nerfing their powers or removing their vulnerabilities.

The Sunlight thing for vamps - if a vampire is on a space ship, is he vulnerable? Similarly, is he vulnerable to other stars' sunlight? If he's wearing a spacesuit, is he vulnerable?

If a werewolf leaves the Earth / Moon system, when does their lycanthropy manifest?

Any help on coming up with pseudo-science / magical mechanics / convincing blags will be greatly appreciated! :smallbiggrin:

I don't know if this helps but Buck Rogers in the 25th century had an episode that dealt with space vampire I believe he used a holy symbol to hold off the vampire and used some light based weapon (or ultra violet) I don't exactly which but the interesting part was that the vampire was invisible to any of the visual scanners and probably any others.

As for werewolves I heartedly recommend checking out Outlaw Star the Ctarl-Ctarl are a race of space lycanthropes you just have to watch to believe!
In their case any moon would do but they also needed to be well fed as being hungry left them in an even weaker state.

Hope that helps

Kaelaroth
2008-03-09, 06:24 AM
Maybe for vampires you could say that the radiation emitted by a yellow sun incinerates their cells on contact. So, they can be protected by space-ships, an some space-suits - and are fine with other kinds of stars. But, leave them without protection on a yellow sun system's planet, or toss them out of the airlock within about a system of one, and they're instantly incinerated.

As for werewolves, maybe you could link it to something related to the moon, rather than the moon itself?

Learnedguy
2008-03-09, 07:25 AM
Maybe for vampires you could say that the radiation emitted by a yellow sun incinerates their cells on contact. So, they can be protected by space-ships, an some space-suits - and are fine with other kinds of stars. But, leave them without protection on a yellow sun system's planet, or toss them out of the airlock within about a system of one, and they're instantly incinerated.

As for werewolves, maybe you could link it to something related to the moon, rather than the moon itself?

Sound logical. Hey, considering that moons reflects some light, maybe that would be a good explanation to werewolves? Same thing as vampires, but the light must be reflected of a moon first.

wadledo
2008-03-09, 07:39 AM
With were-creatures, you could say that it is the gravitational pull of the moon in tandem with the sun that causes them to change involuntarily.
Basically, the gravity of earth grounds them, the gravity of the sun stabilizes them, and the gravity of the moon pulls there cells in a certain way in relation to those other two gravity that causes were-wolves to change.
In fact, this could be why were-wolves exist in the first place, being that if any fluids from a person like that enters a non-were-wolf, the were-cells change and replicate [which is why they can gain mass when they change], spreading thought the victim.

Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-09, 07:40 AM
I was thinking the lunar thing could be gravity related...
So that a planet with a moon more than 1/10 of the mass of the planet would begin to produce lycanthropic effects once the lycanthrope has been there 28 days or one local lunar cycle, whichever is longer.

That'd mean werewolves would lose their moon-related powers in zero-g environments, and on planets without large moons.

As for vamps, I was thinking that the solar radiation thing might be connected to elemental Fire, and the atmosphere of the Earth is connected to elemental Air, so that the danger to vampires is the combination of Fire and Air.
That'd mean the vampires could get away with exposure to sun/star-light as long as there isn't a breathably dense atmosphere several dozen kilometres deep.
In a space craft or station, there isn't enough Air to transform the Fire into damage to the Vampire.

Feasible?

Anyway...
How can I address the powers that rely on night and day in space? Is there a night and day? There's no diffuse light in space, see - so shadows are utterly black, save for a little reflected light from shiny objects nearby.
Given that night on Earth is just caused by the massive shadow cast by the planet, is it night when a space-walking character steps behind a solar panel into the black shade of space?

MorkaisChosen
2008-03-09, 07:41 AM
Maybe Earth's moon contains a special handwavite mineral that refracts and reflects the sunlight into a specific wavelength that, concentrated, causes a shapeshift?

EDIT: Day and Night could just be a 24-hour cycle that resets itself to the light and dark time in the current surroundings, but if there's no proper day/night cycle it just stays how it was the last time they were in a proper cycle?

Kurald Galain
2008-03-09, 11:55 AM
I'd say that yes, any direct sunlight, even from any other star, would seriously harm a vamp, even in space, and even in a spacesuit. Unlike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires in the World of Darkness can't travel around in daylight by wearing a trenchcoat.

Werewolves are spiritual, so tied to some mystical cycle that happens to coincide with Earth's moon.

However, note that certain WOD books hint at "outer space" really being a different vision on the Umbra. In particular, the Technocracy's view.

SilverClawShift
2008-03-09, 04:19 PM
As for werewolves:

Maybe they originated on earth, with their shapeshifting cycle dependant on the cycle of the moon for some sort of natural reason (lycanthropy might be an evolutionary edge designed to give non-nocturnal animals an edge against nightly predators).

Leaving Earth doesn't necessarily change what that advantage DOES, just like taking an animal out of its natural environment doesn't change its behavior (but might cause it to suffer or thrive for new reasons).
Werewolves away from earth might have to keep close track of earth lunar cycles just so they know when their change is coming up, regardless of where in the universe they actually are.

In fact, that could be flippin awesome, because finding notes and lunar charts in someones personal stuff might indicate that they were a shapeshifter.

FlyMolo
2008-03-09, 04:32 PM
As SilverClawShift says.

Werewolves turn on a monthly cycle independent of where they are. It's an inner clock, not a lunar link. It's synced up to the moon for some reason, and so the two things happen at the same time.

Vampires are vulnerable to UV. Depending on the spacesuit, they might be safe.

The Gilded Duke
2008-03-09, 05:08 PM
Actually in a Vampire the Requiem game right now where I have a Gangrel trying to get into space. If you are using Requiem or other New World of Darkness it isn't as difficult as it might be in oWOD. The major difficulty in space travel for vampires wouldn't be in getting damaged by the sun, but instead be in trying to stay awake during the "day".

Vampires on Earth can be protected from the sun by nearly any opaque object, walls, coffin lids etc, so just build them an opaque space suit or ship. During the day however a vampire has to make checks to stay awake and their dice pools are capped by their humanity.

If you have an Ordo Dracul vampire however you can pick up the Coil of Banes. One of the powers of the Coil of Banes lets you stay awake during the day without penalties.

The other major problem with vampiric space travel is keeping fed.
Normally vampires have to drink fresh blood from a human, vampire, or animal to power their abilities and stay active. There are ways to go into torpor for a specific amount of time however, being effectivley dead. If there was the right blood and a system set up on the other side vampires could be shipped while asleep, requiring no supplies or air at all.

Another alternative is the Lancea Sanctum power Vitae Reliquary. Vitae Reliquary allows you to store a number of blood points into a mundane object. Anyone knowing the right method can drink the blood from the objects causing them to crumble to dust. Storing blood in this way is more efficient then storing bodies, or storing food for even humans.

The Ordo Dracul also have the Coil of Blood. One of the powers allows you to spend only one blood for days equal to your resolve. Instead of using up a blood point every day you only might use up one every five days. A vampire at chargen can start with a blood potency of up to 3, giving a blood pool of 13. That Vampire could last for sixty days or so without running out of blood.

Vampires also notably have abilities that humans don't which help signifigantly in space travel. The highest auspex power allows you to leave your body and explore anywhere within the moons orbit (including one side of the moon). There are some devotions and methods that allow you to do this during the day without penalty.

As far as why Vampires or Werewolves or Mages would want to travel in space, I think the main reason is the moon. The moon, being a focus of many different religions and magical traditions, and strongly tied to werewolves and the tides and so on is likely a place of strong magical power. Mages, Werewolves, and Vampires of the Ordo Dracul, Lancea Sanctum, and the Circle of the Crone have great interest and uses (or abuses) for locations of magical power.

Also, both oWOD and nWOD seem to suggest that it isn't sunlight itself that damages vampires, but instead something mystical tied to the sun itself. In oWOD it is hinted that it is an angel or part of the will of god causing the sun to turn against Vampires, but I don't think I've seen any certain explanation in nWOD.