TOMAGOMB Vampire

This page is for brainstorming about how to make vampires work in TOMAGOMB. I have borrowed some concepts from White Wolf, but I will not step on their toes by avoiding specific clan names or power names, and I think you'll find the TOMAGOMB version far enough removed mechanically. That being said, let's jump right in.

Vampires
TOMAGOMB Vampires would follow some interesting rules. They would pursue character classes as normal, but with a special racial template that would involve the following:

Stats
The vampire gains a stat bonus to both current and minimum / maximum stats dependent upon their blood potency:

Degenerate - +1 Str, +1 Dex, +1 M.A.

Novitiate - +2 Str, +1 Dex, +1 Fort, +1 M.A.

Prodigy - +3 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Fort, +2 M.A.

HP, Fortitude, and Blood Pool
All HP rolls are redone using a d12 (full HP at 1st level as normal). Since vampires are undead, they do not gain bonus HP from Fortitude, but they are still tough. Any HP roll of less than 6 becomes a 6 (using the reroll 1’s rule, reroll the die first to see if it goes higher than 6 anyway). If the GM is using static gains (as suggested in TOMAGOMB Modern), then vampires will get 12 HP at 1st level, and 10 HP each level thereafter. They may still gain bonus HP from other sources, such as magic items or AAs.

Fortitude no longer gives a TOMAGOMB Vampire bonus (or deficit) HP. Instead, it determines the blood pool the vampire can hold. The blood pool is equal to Fortitude score plus (or minus) what the HP / level bonus would have been. For instance, a Fortitude score of 13 would normally have +2 HP / level, so instead the vampire has a blood pool of 15 (13 score + 2 modifier). A Fortitude score of 6 would be a severely weakened vampire, resulting in a blood pool of 3 (6 score - 3 modifier). Necessarily, then, a Fortitude score of 5 would have only one blood point and would be the minimum requirement to hold a single blood point, enough to wake up each night.

Blood can be spent similar to CPD, except that the vampire must also spend a point each night to wake up, and does not automatically gain blood back by resting during the day. Instead, the vampire must hunt to gain more blood points. When a vampire feeds from a creature, he damages the creature’s Fortitude score, gaining one blood point per Fortitude point drained. Feeding takes one main action per blood point gained and Fortitude lost from the bitten creature.

The vampire’s blood potency may also vary, mostly by level but a bit may be determined by the vampire who “sired” the new vampire. The lowest grade of potency (“Degenerate”) has the blood pool listed above and may spend 1 blood point per round. The next grade up (“Novitiate”) has +3 to their blood pool and may spend 2 blood points per round. The next grade up (“Prodigy”) has +6 to their blood pool and may spend 2 blood points per round.

These are the starting potencies. The other category of potency is Age. A vampire between the levels of 1 and 9 is described as a “fledgling” with no further bonus. A vampire between levels 10 and 19 is called a “neonate.” 20 to 39 is called an “ancilla.”  40 to 49 are called “elder,” while 50 to 60 are called “methuselah.”

Every 10 levels, a vampire (no matter what starting potency) gains +1 to their blood pool, and every 20 levels a vampire may spend an extra blood point per round beyond their normal limit. Therefore, a 30th level degenerate ancilla is about as potent as a novitiate fledgling in terms of simple blood potency (but that same 30th level ancilla would kick the fledgling’s ass, since level still matters a lot).

Feeding
In general, vampires prefer to feed on either willing or unknowing victims. Anyone seduced by the vampire typically doesn’t offer resistance to the “kiss” as it is extremely pleasurable and tends to induce short-term memory loss in mortals. Those who wish to resist the kiss must succeed on a M.A. save to come out of the trance, but if the subject was seduced they get no save, and subjects taken by surprise get only one save attempt. This save can be remade each round for an active resistance (reserve this for particularly strong-willed high-M.A. foes, and for players). A vampire can simply lick the wound shut afterward, leaving no trace of their presence.

For unsuspecting victims, work the first attack like a backstab, only there is no real damage, just Fortitude damage. The kiss then takes effect as usual.

The hardest foes to assault are in active combat. Anyone wearing medium or better armor typically has some sort of neck covering from the back, requiring a frontal assault with a main action. Foes who are aware of your attack apply their AC as a penalty to the vampire’s Dex attack roll (it’s that much harder to attack around it), but if the attack hits and they don’t dodge, roll a grapple check. If you win, you drain 1 Fortitude and gain a blood point. The subject is too aware to succumb to the kiss in a combat setting, requiring another grapple check in the next main action to continue feeding. If you don’t pin the opponent, they may be pummeling you if they aren’t trying to escape, so it is best to be cautious of using this method. Beware of feeding from monks.

The dead are much less vital - a freshly dead body holds half as much blood as normal for the vampire, and after a couple of hours (when the body grows cold) the blood is useless for slaking a vampire’s thirst.

Vampires may feed from each other, but they run the risk of becoming blood bound. If the same vampire feeds from another on separate occasions on three separate nights, they must make a M.A. save with a -8 penalty or become blood bound. In this bound state, they function as if under the effects of a charm spell with a practically permanent duration.

As mentioned previously, a vampire must spend one blood point each night to wake up. Failure to do so will put the vampire into a comatose state where they are helpless until they either receive fresh blood or a mysterious awakening occurs. Either way, a newly-awakened vampire brought out of a long sleep will be in some stage of blood frenzy.

Blood frenzy occurs when the vampire gets low on blood, and the bestial hunter comes to the surface. The first time a vampire must check against blood frenzy is when they drop below 1/3rd of their normal maximum blood pool, rounded up. This requires making a M.A. save, success indicates they have fought off the frenzy for the moment. So, a vampire with a blood pool of 9 would have to roll a M.A. save when they hit 3 blood points or less, while a blood pool of 15 would be safe until 5 blood points. The GM may ask for the M.A. save again every time their blood pool lowers further. When their blood pool is empty, the character must make a M.A. -10 save every round not to blood frenzy.

In a blood frenzy, the character gain +4 Str, +2 Dex, -4 M.A. (no lower than 1, and this deficit doesn't affect perception), +10% dodge and does their brutal best to drink the blood of anything nearby. The character becomes completely immune to mental effects while in a blood frenzy. The character is not in control of their faculties during a blood frenzy, nor is their character subtle. Anything that gets in their way will likely get killed or drained of blood. Once the character starts receiving blood, they may attempt to throw off the frenzy. If they have bumped up to 1 blood point from an empty pool, the character simply can't stop yet, the blood is too inviting. At 2 blood points, the character can attempt a M.A. save with a -8 penalty (on top of the frenzy penalty) to stop feeding. At 3 blood points, the save is M.A. -6. At 4 blood points, the save is M.A. -4. At 5 blood points, the save is M.A. -2. At 6 blood points and up, the save is a straight M.A. roll with the frenzy penalty. If nothing else the character stops sometime soon after refilling their entire blood pool. When the character snaps out of blood frenzy, they have no recollection of what happened during the frenzy.

The Uses of Blood
Blood Buff: This special bonus may be used by spending blood points as a free action in any given round. The bonuses from different rounds do not stack, meaning that the more blood you put into it on a single turn, the more powerful the effect will be. Buffing again on a different round will only extend the duration.

The bonuses that can be gained per blood point spent are as follows: +2 Str, or +1 Dex, or +3 on perception checks, or +4% dodge, or +10% to a skill check you possess. Remember that the bonuses are per blood point, so if a character was able to spend 5 blood points per round they could gain +25% dodge or +10 Strength by spending 5 blood points. The bonus only lasts for 3 rounds, no matter how much blood was put into the effect. A long-term skill cannot benefit from this, such as blacksmithing, but a stealth check made to hide in a single spot could, even for hours. Once the character moved away and had to make another stealth check, the benefit would be gone (unless it was still within the original 3 rounds).

Blood Healing: A vampire may spend a blood point as a free action to heal 1 HP / 3 character levels, to a minimum of 2 HP healed. This effect may be used multiple times in the same round if the vampire can spend multiple blood points. This is also the only way a vampire can heal besides negative energy. He does not regain hit points by resting, though if he achieves the AA recovery line (up to Miraculous Recovery) he regains hit points mystically through force of will as described in the AA’s (still lacking the “normal” resting recovery though).

Blood Magic: A vampire spellcaster may use blood points in place of - or in addition to - CPD as a free action, with the only limit being his usage of blood points per round. This would count against any other use of blood points, including blood healing or blood buff. Furthermore, if the spell cast with any blood points is from the Blood school, the vampire casts it at +4 caster level (+7 for novitiates, +10 for Prodigies). Vampires cannot cast ANY spell from the Healing school, however. A vampire can also still use Aether Overdraw, but doing so renders him unable to use blood points the rest of the round and the following two rounds, leaving him especially vulnerable.

Blood Powers: These strange powers are taught rather than innate, passed down from one vampire to another over the course of centuries of experimentation with the blood. Until I have had time to refine some of these powers, they will remain an option on the horizon. There will be some sort of limit to how many you can know or how powerful they are (perhaps starting with three ranks to distribute and gaining a new one every 10 levels). When a blood power requires or allows more blood to be spent than the character can spend in a round, unlike Blood Buff they may concentrate on the power and spend more blood over the following consecutive rounds to invoke the power. When concentrating on a power in this manner, the vampire must spend at least a main action in the first round and at least a main action in the second round. If it requires longer, each “middle” round of concentration requires a full round instead. Here’s some examples:

Supernatural Speed, 5 ranks - Each rank of Supernatural Speed allows another blood point to be spent on it. For each blood point spent, you gain +10 ft. of speed and +4% dodge. In addition, at 2, 4, and 5 blood points spent, the character gains an extra attack each round. These bonuses last for 1 round / 3 character levels, minimum 3 rounds. The bonuses stack with Blood Buff, so the vampire could theoretically gain as much as +40% dodge for a brief period. This power cannot be done passively without considerable level adjustment.

Undead Toughness, 5 ranks - Each rank of Undead Toughness allows the potential of spending another blood point on it. For each blood point spent, you gain +1 AC and 1 extra resistance to all non-weapon damage for 1 round / 2 character levels, minimum 3 rounds. Since we're in development, this power could theoretically be more passive, increasing AC and resistance by 1 / rank all the time. The downside to this would be that since the ability is more powerful, the level adjustment may need to increase.

Unholy Strength, 5 ranks - Each rank of Unholy Strength allows the potential of spending another blood point on it. The vampire gains +2 Strength for each blood point spent, which lasts for 1 round / 2 character levels, minimum 3 rounds. This stacks with the bonus from Blood Buff, so a vampire who is able to spend a lot of blood could have a brief time of up to +20 Strength! Also unlike Blood Buff, the blood can be spent over multiple turns, allowing less potent vampires to build up to a devastating attack. Working the power passively, the vampire could instead gain a constant +1 Strength per rank (with a higher constant Str, but lower maximum potential).

Siring
The Embrace is done by draining a person of all their blood, then feeding them some vampire blood. While this sounds simple, in reality it is not due to a number of factors. First, the newly-awakened vampire has no blood pool, and is automatically in a blood frenzy until they are at least partially sated. Second, elder vampires don't like the young running around and siring whomever they want. It is not only reckless, but a threat to their power. This is why vampires (usually) respect the wishes of the elders and ask permission before siring any progeny.

Blood potency in creating a new vampire will depend on both the sire’s original potency and their age. If a fledgling prodigy sires, he would create a novitiate. If a neonate prodigy sired, though, he would create a prodigy.

A fledgling novitiate would sire a degenerate, a neonate novitiate would sire a novitiate, while an ancilla novitiate would sire a prodigy.

A fledgling or neonate degenerate would sire a degenerate, an ancilla would sire a novitiate, while an elder degenerate would sire a prodigy.

Level Adjustment
Degenerates have a +3 level adjustment, Novitiates have a +5 level adjustment, and Prodigies have a +7 level adjustment. As these level adjustments are fairly high, and vampires are capable of extraordinary feats, the DM may decide to only allow vampires in campaigns of level 20 or higher. Another option would be to run a campaign composed of all vampires, to eliminate possible balance issues. If a “normal” character is embraced by a vampire, they must spend the next several levels buying off their new vampiric template.

Vampiric AAs
Strong Blood - Prereq: Fortitude 15. Effect: You gain +3 Blood pool. Special: You may take this AA multiple times. Its effects stack.

Great Blood - Prereq: Fortitude 15, Strong Blood. Effect: You may spend an extra blood point each round.

Reborn Hunter - Prereq: Fortitude 15, Strong Blood, Great Blood. Effect: You raise your original blood potency (degenerate to novitiate, or novitiate to prodigy) and gain all bonuses that would entail. You must gain sufficient XP to overcome your new level adjustment before gaining another character level. Special: A degenerate may take this AA twice, effectively raising themselves up to prodigy.