Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Daxtor 06-27-03, 03:04 PM	What could be the reason to, that a man chosed to be a vampire slayer?? What could have happened???
Sephiroth-sama 06-27-03, 03:15 PM	The old "my family got killed by vampires" reason works. You could be a cleric or a paldain and vampire slaying is just part of the job description. Your god could have spoken to you and while not asking you to become a divine warrior, wants you aid in the destruction of vampires. Perhaps you came across a magic weapon that was designed to kill vampires and it aks you to quest and kill vampires. Slowly, its abilities become unlocked. Someone you once knew could have been turned into a vampire. You could even be a vampire yourself. You hate the kind of creature you've become and you set out to slay other vampires.
Theocracity 06-27-03, 03:19 PM	They killed his family? ...which is the most boring reason ever. Perhaps he's in it for the money. Not many people wanted to be vampire hunters when he was thinking about jobs, so he found what he saw to be a profitable niche and set up his own personal company for vampire extermination, so that he can charge outrageous prices (as well as charge his employers for any damage to "company equipment" or "incidental property damage"). A reckless, happy-go-lucky (and slightly destructive) personality, but one who follows to the letter of the law the contract of his employment (one which he designs himself, due to the desperation of employers in need of vampire hunters).
Redyak 06-27-03, 03:36 PM	I was thinking most of the same things that Sephiroth has already posted. :cool: Also realize that you don't need to have a "noble" motivation for killing vampires. You could be in it for fame. Vampire slayers are only a notch down from dragon slayers in terms of recognition and fame. Maybe you're after a quick route to success, killing vampires instead of dragons because it's so much easier. There's also greed to factor in. Vampire's often live in luxery, in fancy estates, mansions, etc. They also have magic items or valuables more often than not. Plus, you usually get a reward for killing vampires from the nearby town. Finally, there is pure, simple bloodlust. Suppose you play an evil character who just loves to kill. You can't kill humans, elves, or other "civilized" people. What about monsters? No one will care if you savagely rip apart a vampire, orc, troll, etc. They'll probably reward you. You could go after vampires because they are more of a challenge than other monsters. Anyway, these are just alternatives for your character, most of them don't work well for a good-aligned character. I thought I would bring them up because so many other suggestions had already been brought up.
Augustus Semaphore 06-27-03, 09:31 PM	This is probably just a composite, but how about because your grandfather was a well known one and you thought he was pretty cool (as much as you knew of him).
texaskron 06-28-03, 01:02 AM	Hee hee... Or, the character took an aptitude/interest test and it came out the following as the top 5: 1. Postman 2. Cobbler 3. Chimney Sweep 4. Shoe Shiner 5. Vampire Slayer And somewhat like the above backgrounds people gave, but it was a tie between the postman and the vampire slayer as to who got more interest from the opposite sex. That or the character failed out of the top 4. :) You could have the test actually exist in some shape or form if the character was from a relatively well-off family and they wanted to get rid of a lazy dilettante. So, they hired/consulted someone to help. Maybe the realm in question is peaceful and doesn't need knights or military officers. Maybe he's not smart or devout or have the talent for whatever bardic/wizardry/priestly colleges that are about... and he/she really wanted to be a painter but the parents were against that, anything but an artist in the family! :) Or, she could have been unemployed and saw an ad somewhere. :) Or, he read it in a book and always wanted to be one, just for the sake of being one. with all the conflicts that that might cause.
Daniel _the_Zodiac 06-28-03, 06:28 PM	Maybe your character is rascist and sees vampires (or undead as a whole) as 'tainted' and 'unpure' humans. Imagine what would happen if he met a good or neutral vampire (or dhampir) And I don't think the 'family death' idea is boring at all. Unbridled rage and a need for vengence are some really interesting and entertaining emotions for roleplaying. Perhaps the word you were looking for is 'cliched?'
Eagle Prince 07-01-03, 04:50 AM	You could just come from a land plagued by vampires. I mean, if you lived in a mining town, makes sense if you just fell into mining. I guess that could work for a vampire hunter as well.
Kiarynh'Veil Duskryn 07-01-03, 05:09 AM	Everybody is more interested in the next Vampire Hunter D than my bard. Is it because of this class's lack of popularity? :D
Fonkin,the Full-of-it-Fey 07-01-03, 01:37 PM	Here's one: The Vampire Slayer is a vampire himself. He's not evil, but good or neutral aligned. The slayer refuses to submit to his vampiric urges, so he doesn't usually suck the blood of humanoids, but mostly from rats and dogs. He wishes to seek vengence on the person that made him a vampire. To do this, he has to kill all the head-vampires minions and discern the location of their leader. After he kills the head-vampire, the slayer decideds to spend the rest of his eternal life trying to rid the world of his kind.
Theocracity 07-01-03, 02:33 PM	Originally posted by Daniel _the_Zodiac And I don't think the 'family death' idea is boring at all. Unbridled rage and a need for vengence are some really interesting and entertaining emotions for roleplaying. Perhaps the word you were looking for is 'cliched?' Cliched works. As for being a vampire himself...I'd rule that as also a bit cliched, as well as adding a whole lot of play problems. Does daylight kill him? Is he only affected by magic weapons? I'd avoid that.
Daniel _the_Zodiac 07-01-03, 03:52 PM	Dhampir's just aren't allowed to use special abilities in sunlight. That's about it. And they need to feed every once in a while. The bard idea was good, I just didn't have anything to add to it.:(
Theocracity 07-01-03, 04:36 PM	I've always thought Dhampirs were a cop-out ploy to the Anne Rice generation. But that's an argument for another thread. Another good vampire hunter idea would be a Lawful Evil type whose quest is to conquer the world. His Modus Operendi would be finding out the secret ways to destroy / undermine anything (perhaps he's a follower of Vecna). And since Vampires would provide a formidabile challenge to this goal, he's currently focusing his efforts to find the weakness of vampires and destroy them, clearing his path to world domination. A long-lived race like an Elf would work well here, as he has the time to devote 50 years of his life at a time to completely focus on destroying one of his possible challenges (maybe he could become a Dragon hunter after most vampires are gone :D). Or he could be working to become a Lich, thus making his longetivity towards that goal permenant.
Elemental 07-02-03, 09:37 PM	Dhampirs actually have mythology that dates back several centuries, and various odd features according to various myths(like being born boneless, and the ability to discern vampires by looking through a handkerchief) As for motivation, there's the possibility that the one of the character's friends, family or enemies has become a vampire, and the vampire slaying is a means to an end, to find this person and free their immortal soul / redeem them / destroy them once and for all. But I like the job aptitude idea. Something I might use for a modern occult game is one of those job tester programs that one day, starts suggesting students would be suited for life as "Hermetic mage." or "Medium." and suchlike.
The One and Only... 07-03-03, 01:57 PM	Exactly what types of vampires are in your campaign? Because, quite frankly, these talks of LE vampires and dhampirs don't exist in D&D (well, the LE one can if he picks up the advanced vampire template - I forget what it's called).
NordicPhantom 07-03-03, 05:52 PM	Ooh, I think you should make him this really vain ladies man who kills the undead for glory, chicks, and cash. Plus have him have a thing where he has a disdain for the clergy. Church is for suckers, he loves to party, etc.
Skyrocket 07-04-03, 12:16 AM	I once had a vampire hunter who worked for a group of vampires. In that world the Undead were in charge of a good chunk of the world and they sometimes employed human vampire hunters to get rid of troulbe-making vamps and to weed out weak undead. If the hunter lived long enough and did a good job he`d be rewarded with the untimate honor; being turned into a vampire himself. :smirk:
Niiai. 07-04-03, 06:20 PM	Well, worship Pelor and try to rid the world of evil. (Ilithids, drows, dragons, I do not care, vampiers are the worst of them all.)
Tenerus 07-06-03, 09:24 AM	Let's see abut reasons to be a vampire hunter.... 1) Past trauma. Several things come to mind. Most of them cliches, but such things can work if done correctly. Family attacked by vampires. You dont need to have them killed by them. Perhaps the character's wife survived, but was so emotionally scarred by the experience that she left him. Perhaps he fell in love with someone who was in the process of being "turned." Depending on the DM, being changed into a vampire doesn't always happen quickly. Or an even better twist. The wife/lover/whatever wasn't put to rest, but is still out there. Only as a depraved monster. And of course, there is always the "I was almost a victim of a vampire" story. 2) Trained by a mentor. As was mentioned earlier, perhaps your teacher was a vampire hunter. Or a favorite uncle. Or just the local hero. 3) Religion. Perhaps the character is a follower of a deity that hates the undead, and he was tasked to destroy as many as possible. (My personal favorite for this would be Kelemvor in the FR) 4) The "evil" vampire hunter. One who is perhaps even more of a monster than the undead he fights against. Think of Reed's Rangers from Palladium's Rifts game. Or the human supremacist. 5) The "Nexus" explanation. If you have read the comic by Mike Baron and Steve Rude, the main character is an executioner. Why? At first it was because he was chosen. (like it or not) Now it is because "It is the only thing I do well." The same logic can be applied to a vampire hunter. 6) Something else I haven't thought of yet, but someone else might.
Number 2 07-09-03, 01:54 PM	Well as long as you are a good person, and not a coward vampire hunting is just plain natural.. I mean who want's their lover to get eaten by a vampire and then become one? I always liked the treat vaprisy(is that a word) like a disease. You are just paying house calles to those afflicted. Shame that killing is the only cure, but don't forget, they died already and it won't hurt them all that much... Go rent Bram Stoker's Dracula and watch Hopkin's every move... best model for a vampire slayer I've ever seen... I even copied that concept once:blush: