A Very Unvillainous Vampire

[BRC]

For a campaign I'm working on (Which takes place almost entierly in one city) the city has four major noble houses. I decided to make the head of one of the noble houses a vampire. Now, here's the thing, He dosn't exactly like being a vampire, and due to having helped out the head of the inquisition he's got a letter that puts him under inquisitorial protection. Because of this he can reveal his true nature to people, but preffers to only do that if absolutally neccessary. He's either good or neutral aligned, so how would a very wealthy, non-evil vampire handle this situation. Already iv'e decided
He get's any neccessary blood from his consenting bodyguards, and he pays for a Restoration spell immedietally after each feeding. His immediate family and associates (all of whom work for him) know his secret, and some senior inquisitors know, but nobody else. Now, as a member of a major noble family he has some social obligations, plus the fact that he controls part of the city millitary (the noble families raise the cities army, it's explained in the city history), and controls the biggest bank in the city (his families fortune). So, how does he hide his vampirism, would he act differentally, have any diferent motivations. Any other advice on how this guy should act?

[TheOOB]

How a leader with vampirism would function largely depends on how vampirism works in your campaign setting. At it's worst, all vampires will inevitably fall to their monster nature, eventually becoming a souless killing machine, at it's best the vampire will still get jaded and detached, having lived too long off the life of others (willing or no).

The next thing to ask is what kinds of cues to their vampire nature do they have. Are their fangs obvious, or do they grow when they feed. Are they repelled by any light, or just sunlight, can they be active during the daytime at all, do they need to sleep in a coffin, can they be seen in mirrors, ect.

The more things going agienst the vampire, the more they are going to try to pose as an eccentric seldom seen noble. He might often times make strange and unusual demands for his lodging and appearances, usually to hide the demands he makes to protect his nature. He would be secretive and paranoid, issuing orders through as many layers of bureaucracy as possible. Basically, the less interaction with those outside his inner circle, the better.

[Prometheus]

Immortality and Power must be two big driving forces in this guy's character. He lives forever and has the ability to accomplish what he wants. Perhaps then, he believes in some humanitarian cause, but it is paternalistic and feels the need to control all that he can in order to support that cause. Or maybe instead he is a collector or learner, where he amasses mass quantities and rare qualities or art or knowledge that no one else can obtain.

[BRC]

Heres a way I see it, this guy was a recent baron of this family (Lets say he was a 5th level aristocrat at that point) when he got vamped by a vapire who wanted to control the bank (which is by far the largest bank in the city), a portion of the city millitary, and hold some hefty power in the city. The inquisition finds out and kills this vampire dead, but they don't know what to do with the now free-willed baron. Killing him would cause a major upset in the city and may lead to the collapse of the bank, so they defer to authority. The grand inquisitor comes in, checks things out and says "Okay, you can live provided you follow these rules also, we'll be watching. We know where you live"

So for the last thirty or so years he's been pretending to age. Now, at some point he'll have to "Die", the question is what is he going to do afterwards. just fake his death and hand off the power to somebody else while he goes off and pursue's a hobby? Or maybe he'll fake his death and use the next baron as a puppet. Not quite sure yet.

[Feralgeist]

make him a vampire lord. He'll fear no sun, nor death!

[Flickerdart]

This all depends on whether or not the Cursed with Awesome Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire was bitten recently, or not. If it's been more than one lifespan of his base race (if he's, say, an elf, or already an elan, this would obviously matter less) then he would most likely control a puppet successor of some sort.

-looks at OP's second post-

Alright, so you've got that figured out and just need mannerisms. Since he's a businessman, he'll probably be Lawful Neutral. If you want him Lawful Good instead (because he has to be Lawful to do a bank) then he will be actively seeking a cure.

Alternately, we've got a Batman on our hands. Wealthy banker by day, scourge of the criminal world by night. Will he have a Paper Thin Disguise or a chance for the players to unmask him? Up to you.

[JeminiZero]

What Magic Level are we talking about? A Hat of Disguise can do wonderful things when you look half dead, and have unusually long fangs. As a vampire, the greatest problem with pretending that nothing is wrong, would be how he handles sunlight exposure. He might have to send someone else disguised as himself to attend open public functions in the day (so long as his body double doesn't have to interact with anyone, just sit there and look pretty).

As for eventual death and Heir and what not. With a Hat of disguise, it is easy enough for him to pose as both himself and his supposed heir. That way, when his mortal self is supposed to die, he just switches to pretending to be the Heir permanently, and brings a *new* heir out of the woodwork, who is himself in a different disguise. That way, he can retain power, but on the outside, the Noble family looks like it has a normal line of succession.

[BRC]

What Magic Level are we talking about? A Hat of Disguise can do wonderful things when you look half dead, and have unusually long fangs. As a vampire, the greatest problem with pretending that nothing is wrong, would be how he handles sunlight exposure. He might have to send someone else disguised as himself to attend open public functions in the day (so long as his body double doesn't have to interact with anyone, just sit there and look pretty).

As for eventual death and Heir and what not. With a Hat of disguise, it is easy enough for him to pose as both himself and his supposed heir. That way, when his mortal self is supposed to die, he just switches to pretending to be the Heir permanently, and brings a *new* heir out of the woodwork, who is himself in a different disguise. That way, he can retain power, but on the outside, the Noble family looks like it has a normal line of succession.
Hats of disguise are tricky, because of the nature of the campaign I significantally raised the level of spell Disguise Self (it would make things too easy), so hats of disguise are very expensive.

On the other hand ,this guy is very very rich, so he could get one of them anyway.

[Tistur]

So for the last thirty or so years he's been pretending to age. Now, at some point he'll have to "Die", the question is what is he going to do afterwards. just fake his death and hand off the power to somebody else while he goes off and pursue's a hobby? Or maybe he'll fake his death and use the next baron as a puppet. Not quite sure yet.

Can vampires have children in this setting? Who is his heir, and does his heir know about this? My first thought would be that the baron should "age" a lot, "die" and leave his barony to a son nobody knows about. Then he could leave, and return, minus the aging. He'd be the spitting image of himself. :)

[BRC]

Can vampires have children in this setting? Who is his heir, and does his heir know about this? My first thought would be that the baron should "age" a lot, "die" and leave his barony to a son nobody knows about. Then he could leave, and return, minus the aging. He'd be the spitting image of himself. :)
He could have had children before he got vampd, or he could hand it off to a younger brother/cousin/nephew or somthing. This is a major noble family so it's fairly large.

[Recaiden]

In the base campaign, there is some potion like substance that lets vampires temporarily go out in sunlight. He is probably very focused on whatever he supports, or tries to manipulate people into doing what he wants. If he is rich enough to afford a hat of disguise at a higher level and keep some items for when he has to go out in the sun, he could act normal, and pass control to a made up 'nephew' or 'cousin' or something who he pretends to be.

[Shadowdweller]

Quite a few ways you could go with this. Some examples:
1) Tries to keep people away to hide the fact that he's not aging and can't go around during the day. Maybe he swathes his form in bandages and heavy veils while keeping up the pretense of some exotic disease. Perhaps he tries to pass himself off as albino, to avoid sunlight. Maybe he just refuses to see anyone that doesn't know his secret. Maybe he comes up with some sort of cover to avoid questions. He could, for instance, appoint himself curator of a large library of ancient texts. The place is dark enough that he can avoid contact with sunlight, and he passes this off as being because "it could harm the books". Perhaps he claims to go on long trips to avoid contact with others while really secluding himself in one of his estates. He may use surrogates to represent him.

2) Alternately, his inability to be outside during the day could have the reverse effect. Rather than trying to keep people away, he instead finds himself extremely lonely upon being cut off from most of society. He holds frequent late-night parties and balls in vain effort to keep himself constantly surrounded by people. He might try to emulate a rakish lifestyle, encouraging rumors that he doesn't even wake up before late afternoon due to his late-night revels. Perhaps he cakes his face with powders and make-up, ostensibly to hide the (non-existent) tell-tale signs of age.

[BRC]

Here's an idea, he throw's elaborate parties, he shows up at the beggining then, when the party get's big and loud and confusing he vanishes, people assume he was elsewhere in the party and so he keeps suspicion off himself by minimizing exposure whilst maining the impression of a socialite banker baron.

[Flickerdart]

And his parties are another layer of facade over his being Batman.

[Zrinfael]

You said in the first post that your vamp was allowed to remain because he had cooperated with the inquisition, though later that the inquisitor told him he is allowed to remain so long as he follows certain rules coupled with threat of death. So, is he a good vampire of his own desire, or is he forced to be? Both would count as forced also, in my opinion, you'll become resentful of the overwatching authority telling you 'you must, you may not' and controlling so much of your life regardless of whether or not that's how you'd act without their influence. If it's forced, he's likely going to do everything he can to appear a model citizen while secretly plotting the downfall (or takeover) of the inquisition. The PCs would be very good for this as they're a powerful group of outsiders who might be convinced through some trickery that the good inquisition is corrupt inside. If it's of his own free will, then chances are he's as interested in hunting other monsters as the inquisition is, and will employ the PCs to do so.

Either way, as the head of the largest (one may infer) most successful bank, a freewheeling playboy sounds more his anathema. I'd have him set up in a castle-esque mansion: soaring gothic architecture designed to impress, replete with awnings and flying buttresses-this can impress and serve as a handy sunblock should he need to walk outside in the day. He'd look somewhat frail, showing definite signs of age, probably walk with a cane, pale skin. Furnishings should be regal and comfortable, but nothing frivolous, everything must be functional and meticulously tidy. He could wear bifocals for reading investment reports, which is what he'd spend most of his day doing, and thick, short trimmed hair combed neatly. He would be cleanshaven, wear nonassuming clothes of neutral colors, blacks, browns, blues, etc. If done right, he'll sound like a completely unimpressive bookworm who has spent far too much of his life sitting in a chair reading and being stressed.

He shouldn't go out of his way to avoid people per se, rather, there are really only so many reasons you'd ever actually want to talk to someone who spends all their time playing with other people's money. Should he need to meet with anyone, he'd just invite them over to his estate for the meeting. This is a good indicator of who is actually important enough for him to meet with also; if a wealthy aristocrat wouldn't invite the would be guest into his home, that person isn't worth the vamp's time and can meet with an intermediary. This is how he'd handle whatever obligations he has with the city militia as well, he might meet the commander and captains, perhaps even the lieutenants personally from time to time, but there's no reason he should waste his time watching drills and exercises when the commander can tell him more in far less time. If he's required to make a public appearance, he'll have a large heavy umbrella toted around for him, blocking out the sun. He can claim sensitive eyesight from all those nights spent pouring over books by candlelight-and he should complain bitterly about how the sun hurts his weary old eyes at every opportunity along with suggesting the goal of the event is to cause his discomfort. He can sponsor a social event every month or so that he may or may not attend, just be sure that everyone knows it's courtesy of vamp boy. The events he does attend should be formal dressy occasions. Think ballroom dancing, black tie affairs. In that situation he shouldn't really need to make any fancy misdirection tricks or vanish mysteriously halfway through the party.

The key things to remember here is that he has the aristocrat's attitude. He doesn't need to appear for much in the way of social events because they aren't worth his personal time, the same goes for most people, he is important, they are not. When setting up a meeting or appearance, do so in such a manner that is at his convenience rather than someone else's. If he's required to do anything, his first response should be to summon a retainer to deal with whatever the task is. Think about how often a real life chairmen of a modern bank is seen, practically never unless you're important enough to warrant his personal attention and even then you meet where he wants to, when he wants to.

It's not as glamorous as the Bruce Wayne/playboy socialite, but, in my experience, you'll never be able to maintain that image while keeping a deep dark secret when the folks looking for monsters (the PCs) aren't scripted. Layers upon layers of retainers, bureaucracy, and red tape shouldn't isolate him from the real world, but let him pretend to be a merchant prince and he should be able to get away with acting like a cagey old grump without raising an eyebrow.

[Fishy]

As a politician, a business, and a socialite, the Baron has to negotiate in various ways with various small-minded stubborn people who all have agendas and varieties of red tape.

As a vampire, the Baron has the power to hypnotize them, force them to agree to the perfectly reasonable deal he's making them, and send them on their way with a mindwedgie.

As a Lawful and/or Good type, he won't ever actually do this, but he's got to be keenly aware of it. I'd give him something of a temper- any time he has an extended dealing with someone who just won't stop being stupid, he might feel the need to leave the table and head for his private quarters to bite something.

[Khanderas]

I once toyed with a similar idea, though with a more rural setting. Adult person gets infected, but manage to stay away from the monster aspects due to family bonds, sense of honor, things like that. And eventually the rest of the village was ok with that, since one vampire in a far off village is a GREAT asset in a dangerous world and the best fighter in the village is a warrior-1. In would PC's come and zealously want to destroy the vamp, and would assume that protesting / protecting villagers would just be dominated anyways. Hilarity ensues.

BUT this is about your guy. And as an aristocrat with forever time on his hands he needs a hobby. Could be to manage his estates, knowleadge collecting, politics. Without a drive though, he would get bored... and that is not good.
Since the nobility often have parties well though the night, him sleeping most of the day would not be seen as strange by outsiders. Staying indoors would not be strange either during the day (even when not sleeping) nobles got paperwork to handle and buissness to manage.

I would portray him as, well most nobles. He will talk to people in a correct and polite way, decline things he cannot do (such as going out in daytime) with plausable excuses such as buissness to attend to, or a splitting headache from yesterdays party. He is pretending to be a normal noble so he should act like one, with perhaps alittle more patence then most.
Spice it up by rumors of him being a farily strong fighter (survived an assassination attempt unarmed (guess the assassin didnt know he was a vamp)) despite appearances.

Since the reason for not offing the Baron was to not cause the public distress, when a certain number of years have passed and the Baron is "old" enough he can either be offed by the Inqusition (may or may not be volontary) or publically have died and take a less prominent role (the Inquisition is problebly not going this way. When the baron is officially dead, they will make sure he IS dead) or run off (could be his plan, play nice, set up an estate and waiting alter ego away from the Inqusition, pretend to die and move there to "live" happily ever after. May or may not be a "good" goal that the PC's either help or break).

[J.Gellert]

If he can fork out a Restoration spell every time he feeds, wouldn't it be simpler to pay for a Resurrection spell, then kill himself? Vampire no more.

[Roderick_BR]

Hmm... here's an idea I've been wanting to do for the longest time: A vampire paladin (there's a manga called vampire knight that may have influenced it, but I never read it, just saw the cover)
Basically, the noble is the descendant of a familiy dedicated to cavalry and a knightly order. When young, he battles some vampire that tries to control him. He manages to break free of the vampire's control, and retain his own personality, due to his force of will and divine blessings.
He makes the deal with his order to remain hidden, as he is one of his family's last representants, and retires from official knighthood.
He can be seen in public with an ornate armor, doing the "old sarge" type. Militar types can easily keep people away enough (except for those that love men in militar clothings...)
To hide his age, he can claim he works a lot to the military, being seem in public only during parties.
He could spread rumors of a son living in another kingdom, studying in some war college or something, for many years, and receiving the "prince"'s visit from time to time (an actor with a illusion, of course), and finally he can "die", and let the "prince" (now himself) become the new noble of his house.
And as a knight AND a noble, he can have enough power to keep people from invertigating further on his family tree.