Vampire HD

[Jimbob]

Quick question...... level 6 fighter turned into vampire the LA is +8 so does this mean he has 14d12 HD or just 6d12 HD???

[Jasdoif]

Just 6d12. LA doesn't provide hit dice.

[Jack Mann]

This is why vampire is generally bad template for PCs. You won't be leveling up until you've got enough experience to take your fifteenth level, and already you probably have less HP than you did as a regular human fighter (d12 is just one more hit point on average than d10, and you no longer have a con bonus).

[Jimbob]

Thanks guys

[Kizara]

3.5 Vampires are just terrible, try to convince your DM to let you play a 3.0 vampire.

Bump the LA up to 6, change the DR to what the 3.5 one has, and you're good to go.

[timberwolftrid]

the vampire template in the D20 rulebook (or is it urban arcana...?) is really broken, i say this as someone who is currently playing a vampire character using this template. broke as hell.

its just way to powerful to have only a +2 level adjustment, considering drow have the same because they can cast darkness...

it all really boils down the two thing though, how hard it is to permanantly kill the PC, and how offset this is by the PC's ability to roleplay.

as an example the D20 vamp is essentially impossible to kill, mosly due to damage reduction but also because of the fact that they just come back more often than not. as a player i do my best to offset this by playing the character as a lunatic who is convinced of their own inability to die regardless of how untrue that it. and ultimately if i get docked experience for getting shot do death, eventually, it only reinforces this immortality complex for the character so for all intents and purposes the fact that the level adjustment is too low doesnt matter because he gets less XP than normal anyway. the same could have been reflected by this immortal being not being combat oriented as a character.

[Kizara]

The Monster Manual 3.5 Vampire Template has an 8!! level adjustment.

It's obscenely broken at 2, but that's why its NOT 2...
CR adjustment is never, EVER the same as LA.

Even the 3.0 one had +5, which was a bit overpowered but nothing compared to 2.

And for referance, the drow's LA comes from their SR and ability adjustments, the darkness and fairy fire are just gravy.

[Jack Mann]

He's talking about the D20 Modern vampire.

However, I don't think it's playable with just a +2 LA either. The CR changes to +2, as in Dungeons and Dragons, but that's quite different from level adjustment.

[Fixer]

Vampires are far more viable for bard, rogue, sorcerer and wizard classes than for the religious or melee classes. Most of these classes have not put a lot of points into Con and had a lousy HD to begin with.

Vampire rogue....

"I sneak attack with my slam attack! Take 8d6 damage and gain two negative levels!"

Ouch.

[Dausuul]

And for referance, the drow's LA comes from their SR and ability adjustments, the darkness and fairy fire are just gravy.

Also for reference, drow suck abysmally. The SR and ability adjustments are nowhere near being worth LA +2.

If you're measuring LA to that standard, then +8 for vampires is quite reasonable.

[timberwolftrid]

well as per the vampire being good at all out comabt classes, the D20 modern vampire template applied to a fast hero base class, and some two handed fighting turns it into a whirlwind of death with a pair of low damage melee weapons. and there is a STR based strong hero designed to be a fighting class in the party who doesnt stand close.

this is at second level though, and it will even out with time, but right now doing more damage and living longer through combat than a character that is designed to is kinda spooky, especially considering i picked feats based on the character not trying to max out combat capability (i dare not think what would have happened if i did...)

[PinkysBrain]

In D&D if you make yourself a target as a PC (or cohort) vampire in a pre-epic game you will likely go gaseous a whole lot. A vampire's LA is based on it's spawning ability and your base classes don't make a hell of a lot of difference in that respect. Having some utility spells is always handy for the party, even if they are low level, so being a caster is the best entry into vampire ... but in combat your place is in hiding while your spawn do the heavy lifting.

Dunno how it works in d20 modern.

[timberwolftrid]

essentially the same, but my character never makes spawn, and as of now he does not cast spells either, but he has guns so it offsets that a little

[SpikeFightwicky]

the vampire template in the D20 rulebook (or is it urban arcana...?) is really broken, i say this as someone who is currently playing a vampire character using this template. broke as hell.

its just way to powerful to have only a +2 level adjustment, considering drow have the same because they can cast darkness...

it all really boils down the two thing though, how hard it is to permanantly kill the PC, and how offset this is by the PC's ability to roleplay.

as an example the D20 vamp is essentially impossible to kill, mosly due to damage reduction but also because of the fact that they just come back more often than not. as a player i do my best to offset this by playing the character as a lunatic who is convinced of their own inability to die regardless of how untrue that it. and ultimately if i get docked experience for getting shot do death, eventually, it only reinforces this immortality complex for the character so for all intents and purposes the fact that the level adjustment is too low doesnt matter because he gets less XP than normal anyway. the same could have been reflected by this immortal being not being combat oriented as a character.

You mean d20 Modern? The vampire template has a CR of +2, not a LA of +2, since the only race they want you to play (outside of Urban Arcana) is human. No creatures in d20 Modern has a level adjustment for this reason, except for the 9 'powerful shadowkind' (Aasimar, Bugbear, Dragonblooded, Drow, Gnoll, Half-Dragon, Half-Ogre, Ogre, Tiefling) in Urban Arcana, but they have a whole chapter based around how to adapt their LA to the base classes. You lucked out if the GM let you play a vamp as a LA of +2.

[manda_babylon]

the vampire template in the D20 rulebook (or is it urban arcana...?) is really broken, i say this as someone who is currently playing a vampire character using this template. broke as hell.

its just way to powerful to have only a +2 level adjustment, considering drow have the same because they can cast darkness...

it all really boils down the two thing though, how hard it is to permanantly kill the PC, and how offset this is by the PC's ability to roleplay.

as an example the D20 vamp is essentially impossible to kill, mosly due to damage reduction but also because of the fact that they just come back more often than not. as a player i do my best to offset this by playing the character as a lunatic who is convinced of their own inability to die regardless of how untrue that it. and ultimately if i get docked experience for getting shot do death, eventually, it only reinforces this immortality complex for the character so for all intents and purposes the fact that the level adjustment is too low doesnt matter because he gets less XP than normal anyway. the same could have been reflected by this immortal being not being combat oriented as a character.

I don't know what your D20 vampire's stats are, but mine's pretty freaking frail. He's a level five dedicated hero vampire, and he's got crap for HP and a pretty low strength, given how weak he was as a human.

If you started with awesome stats and had a good, combat-oriented character, and if you rolled well for HP (something I never seem to do), you'll have a pretty fantastic character. However, if you're really going to role play a vampire, chances are, you won't accept all of the insane skills and abilities vampires get when they're generated as encounter monsters. [for example, we reworked the template to reflect the vampires we had created for our unique setting - all of the +stats to ability scores, the skill benefits, darkvision, and the speed feats, only.]

However, they're just as vulnerable as other characters, perhaps more so, considering they don't heal damage normally, and if they reach zero hit points, they're just dead, without being knocked out, and with no chance of being stabilized. D20 Modern vampires don't even get Torper.