So, I've been thinking about this a while [Archive] - Wizards Community

So, I've been thinking about this a while [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
kafit
11-20-05, 06:42 PM I had an idea for a pair of characters that I liked, but I wasn't totally sure how to flesh them out better.

I was thinking of a pair of adventuring lovers, the male would be half-vampire as in Libris Mortus and have the... well I haven't been looking at books in a looong time and it is basically the blood-drain ability that requires you to drink blood each day to survive. Well, this pair takes a turn in the direction of goodness and he is forsaking his vampiric blood. He needs to survive however. The sacrifice? His lover allows him to drink her blood each day to keep him alive. This would keep her character at slightly less than peak physical condition (con drain right?) and she would be a bit frail.

That is the basic idea. What I would be looking for is a good backstory for the pair. How they met, how he acquired his unusual heritage, and why they are out in the wider world. I can see some good possibilities for this, but I was hoping just to get suggestions from all of you wonderful people and see where you would take it, see if that would help me come up with something of my own.
nihility
11-20-05, 09:48 PM Interesting idea. A couple of responses...

1) So, your lover needs to deal with 1d4 points of constitution drain per day. That's not so easy to deal with, since ability drain (http://d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#abilityDrained) can only be healed by magical means. It seems like it might be a good idea if your lover was a cleric or favored soul (probably of a good deity) who could cast Restoration (http://d20srd.org/srd/spells/restoration.htm) on herself. Of course, there's no reason why the player couldn't roleplay the character as being at a bit less than 100%; losing that much blood has still got to take a bit out of you, even if it gets put back. Pardon the pun.

2) From your character's perspective, this seems like a classic case of a wicked person finding the desire to do good as a result of love - in particular, love for a person who herself serves good. It's likely that your character concealed his true nature when he first met his companion.

3) As for motivations to adventure, it's quite common for good-aligned individuals who are of a typically evil race or who themselves were once evil to want to good, perhaps to right prior wrongs. Perhaps you're trying to atone for your sins, one by one, and journey to towns and families that you previously preyed upon to make amends. This might mean seeking forgiveness directly and doing some act to show contrition - a labor, as it were. Alternately, your character might work in secret to make up for his wrongdoings, such as leaving gifts of money to support a family that lost its breadwinner to your depredations or defending a village where you once killed the village defenders.

4) Another adventure option might be to relieve your blood dependence. Perhaps a certain legendary ritual can allow you to become a different breed of half-vampire, losing your blood drain attack and associated dependence and gaining one of the other possible template abilities instead (such as DR or fast healing).
kafit
11-23-05, 03:49 AM I can go with the redeemer bit. I was hoping for a good pair though, as opposed to true wickedness underneath. I am going to save that one in memory though.

I am still trying to think of how to build up the male especially, I am thinking of a sort of... dark swordsman... I was thinking of making him a swashbuckler, making him a good-natured and good-hearted person but giving him a very dark and vicious side.

I want him to seem just a little more surreal than the norm. I am going for dark, not evil, but dark. I am having so much trouble trying to put out good words and make real ideas its not even funny...
Morka
11-25-05, 10:50 AM Very interresting!

Perhaps did the said ritual allowed him to make Constitution Damage instead of Constitution Drain, this way his lover could naturally heal. And the lover could take some home-made feat allowing her to heal 1d4 point of ability damage each night instead of just 1. Otherwise, to allow her to heal all her CON damage, the half-vampire should attack random NPC once in a while, or convince other friends to give him their blood.

As for how did they met, perhaps were they lover before the half-vampire was attacked by a vampire. She was able to rescue him when he was almost dead; while not a true vampire, he still needed blood to survive.

Otherwise, you can inspire you by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Spike (http://www.buffyguide.com/players/spike.php) was a true vilain until he got a chip implanted who disable him each time he attacks a living creature (you could use a Mark of Justice spell for similar effects).
Angel (http://www.buffyguide.com/players/angel.php) was also a true vilain until he killed the daughter of a Romany (Gypsy) tribe, and the tribe cursed him by restoring his soul; from then on he suffered with guilt over the acts he had committed as a vampire. This could be duplicate with a Wish or Miracle spell.
nihility
11-25-05, 11:34 AM If you prefer to lay off the villain history entirely, then you'll probably need an exceptionally good influence during the character's childhood to counter the badness he was born with. Off the top of my head, consider this: mom gave birth to the little blighter, couldn't handle the realization of what she was looking at, and resolved to give the baby up. One basket, blanket, and trip on horseback later, your character found himself on the doorstep of a church. Mind you, mom wasn't looking to give your character a good home, she was looking for someone who could dispose of him properly. She didn't know the difference between a half-vampire and a regular one, you see. So, she picked a church known for their undead-smiting ways.

Anyway, the church of Pelor (or a similar god in your setting) pretty much loathes the undead, true, but they're also big on mercy. With their superior knowledge of the matter, they knew that the little fellow had at least the potential for good in him, so they made arrangements to raise him right. He spent his childhood under the strict attentions of various nuns and priests (or whatever the church of Pelor calls them).

Let's say this is a fairly big church, with associated land holdings that the church's monks and such work. So, the church raises livestock, let's say chickens, hogs, and cattle. Someone needs to kill the animals to be butchered, a job that quickly falls to your character; this allows him to drain blood daily without hurting people. Unfortunately, there are days when you can't get your blood fix - maybe they weren't planning on having meat that day or something, and the hog you were working on is one drain short of death. Of course, dealing with that and suffering through it without giving in to temptation is a valuable thing for this character to learn, right? Well, the church thought so, anyway, so you spent those days in a rather sorry state while being monitored by clerics.

You weren't the only kid at that church (monatery?), though. There were quite a few orphans, as well as a few children of the clergy (Pelor doesn't require celibacy, so I would assume at least some clergy would marry). You were close friends with one girl in particular, and she felt very badly for you when you had to suffer through a bloodless day.

Yeah, I know, the childhood friend thing is a bit common in these stories. Of course, that's probably because it's incredibly common in real life when you look at small communities that don't get much population transfer. I'm from such a place, actually, and my little brother has been going out with the same girl since junior high school. They're in college now, and I fully expect that they'll marry.

Anyway, you've got a friend and a mostly-postive environment to grow up in, though a strict one. You're physical prowess is obvious, so combat training makes sense when it's time for you to learn a trade. At the age of sixteen, you leave the church and set out to find your own way in life. A few levels later, you're a honest-to-goodness [insert class or concept here]. That's when you happen to meet your old friend. Maybe you were both hired to do the same job, or maybe you hired on to do a job for the church and she happened to be involved. Anyway, you hit it off immediately, friendship becomes romance, and pretty soon, you're a couple. Happily enough, she's both a cleric (or favored soul) and a willing volunteer, so your blood problem is taken care of.

So, why the dark side? Well, your upbringing was quite strict, so he might harbor resentment. He has a few years on his own for you to fill in, and maybe he's made some mistakes in that time. Perhaps he's bound to have a darkness in him as a result of his vampiric blood.
nihility
11-25-05, 11:36 AM As for how did they met, perhaps were they lover before the half-vampire was attacked by a vampire. She was able to rescue him when he was almost dead; while not a true vampire, he still needed blood to survive.
I rather like this idea. Maybe you would have become a true vampire, but your lover was able to partially cure you (again, cleric levels are handy here). Unfortunately, she didn't quite pull it off. She still loves you, and feels partially responsible for your condition since she was unable to fully prevent your transformation.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kafit 11-20-05, 06:42 PM	I had an idea for a pair of characters that I liked, but I wasn't totally sure how to flesh them out better. I was thinking of a pair of adventuring lovers, the male would be half-vampire as in Libris Mortus and have the... well I haven't been looking at books in a looong time and it is basically the blood-drain ability that requires you to drink blood each day to survive. Well, this pair takes a turn in the direction of goodness and he is forsaking his vampiric blood. He needs to survive however. The sacrifice? His lover allows him to drink her blood each day to keep him alive. This would keep her character at slightly less than peak physical condition (con drain right?) and she would be a bit frail. That is the basic idea. What I would be looking for is a good backstory for the pair. How they met, how he acquired his unusual heritage, and why they are out in the wider world. I can see some good possibilities for this, but I was hoping just to get suggestions from all of you wonderful people and see where you would take it, see if that would help me come up with something of my own.
nihility 11-20-05, 09:48 PM	Interesting idea. A couple of responses... 1) So, your lover needs to deal with 1d4 points of constitution drain per day. That's not so easy to deal with, since ability drain (http://d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#abilityDrained) can only be healed by magical means. It seems like it might be a good idea if your lover was a cleric or favored soul (probably of a good deity) who could cast Restoration (http://d20srd.org/srd/spells/restoration.htm) on herself. Of course, there's no reason why the player couldn't roleplay the character as being at a bit less than 100%; losing that much blood has still got to take a bit out of you, even if it gets put back. Pardon the pun. 2) From your character's perspective, this seems like a classic case of a wicked person finding the desire to do good as a result of love - in particular, love for a person who herself serves good. It's likely that your character concealed his true nature when he first met his companion. 3) As for motivations to adventure, it's quite common for good-aligned individuals who are of a typically evil race or who themselves were once evil to want to good, perhaps to right prior wrongs. Perhaps you're trying to atone for your sins, one by one, and journey to towns and families that you previously preyed upon to make amends. This might mean seeking forgiveness directly and doing some act to show contrition - a labor, as it were. Alternately, your character might work in secret to make up for his wrongdoings, such as leaving gifts of money to support a family that lost its breadwinner to your depredations or defending a village where you once killed the village defenders. 4) Another adventure option might be to relieve your blood dependence. Perhaps a certain legendary ritual can allow you to become a different breed of half-vampire, losing your blood drain attack and associated dependence and gaining one of the other possible template abilities instead (such as DR or fast healing).
kafit 11-23-05, 03:49 AM	I can go with the redeemer bit. I was hoping for a good pair though, as opposed to true wickedness underneath. I am going to save that one in memory though. I am still trying to think of how to build up the male especially, I am thinking of a sort of... dark swordsman... I was thinking of making him a swashbuckler, making him a good-natured and good-hearted person but giving him a very dark and vicious side. I want him to seem just a little more surreal than the norm. I am going for dark, not evil, but dark. I am having so much trouble trying to put out good words and make real ideas its not even funny...
Morka 11-25-05, 10:50 AM	Very interresting! Perhaps did the said ritual allowed him to make Constitution Damage instead of Constitution Drain, this way his lover could naturally heal. And the lover could take some home-made feat allowing her to heal 1d4 point of ability damage each night instead of just 1. Otherwise, to allow her to heal all her CON damage, the half-vampire should attack random NPC once in a while, or convince other friends to give him their blood. As for how did they met, perhaps were they lover before the half-vampire was attacked by a vampire. She was able to rescue him when he was almost dead; while not a true vampire, he still needed blood to survive. Otherwise, you can inspire you by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Spike (http://www.buffyguide.com/players/spike.php) was a true vilain until he got a chip implanted who disable him each time he attacks a living creature (you could use a Mark of Justice spell for similar effects). Angel (http://www.buffyguide.com/players/angel.php) was also a true vilain until he killed the daughter of a Romany (Gypsy) tribe, and the tribe cursed him by restoring his soul; from then on he suffered with guilt over the acts he had committed as a vampire. This could be duplicate with a Wish or Miracle spell.
nihility 11-25-05, 11:34 AM	If you prefer to lay off the villain history entirely, then you'll probably need an exceptionally good influence during the character's childhood to counter the badness he was born with. Off the top of my head, consider this: mom gave birth to the little blighter, couldn't handle the realization of what she was looking at, and resolved to give the baby up. One basket, blanket, and trip on horseback later, your character found himself on the doorstep of a church. Mind you, mom wasn't looking to give your character a good home, she was looking for someone who could dispose of him properly. She didn't know the difference between a half-vampire and a regular one, you see. So, she picked a church known for their undead-smiting ways. Anyway, the church of Pelor (or a similar god in your setting) pretty much loathes the undead, true, but they're also big on mercy. With their superior knowledge of the matter, they knew that the little fellow had at least the potential for good in him, so they made arrangements to raise him right. He spent his childhood under the strict attentions of various nuns and priests (or whatever the church of Pelor calls them). Let's say this is a fairly big church, with associated land holdings that the church's monks and such work. So, the church raises livestock, let's say chickens, hogs, and cattle. Someone needs to kill the animals to be butchered, a job that quickly falls to your character; this allows him to drain blood daily without hurting people. Unfortunately, there are days when you can't get your blood fix - maybe they weren't planning on having meat that day or something, and the hog you were working on is one drain short of death. Of course, dealing with that and suffering through it without giving in to temptation is a valuable thing for this character to learn, right? Well, the church thought so, anyway, so you spent those days in a rather sorry state while being monitored by clerics. You weren't the only kid at that church (monatery?), though. There were quite a few orphans, as well as a few children of the clergy (Pelor doesn't require celibacy, so I would assume at least some clergy would marry). You were close friends with one girl in particular, and she felt very badly for you when you had to suffer through a bloodless day. Yeah, I know, the childhood friend thing is a bit common in these stories. Of course, that's probably because it's incredibly common in real life when you look at small communities that don't get much population transfer. I'm from such a place, actually, and my little brother has been going out with the same girl since junior high school. They're in college now, and I fully expect that they'll marry. Anyway, you've got a friend and a mostly-postive environment to grow up in, though a strict one. You're physical prowess is obvious, so combat training makes sense when it's time for you to learn a trade. At the age of sixteen, you leave the church and set out to find your own way in life. A few levels later, you're a honest-to-goodness [insert class or concept here]. That's when you happen to meet your old friend. Maybe you were both hired to do the same job, or maybe you hired on to do a job for the church and she happened to be involved. Anyway, you hit it off immediately, friendship becomes romance, and pretty soon, you're a couple. Happily enough, she's both a cleric (or favored soul) and a willing volunteer, so your blood problem is taken care of. So, why the dark side? Well, your upbringing was quite strict, so he might harbor resentment. He has a few years on his own for you to fill in, and maybe he's made some mistakes in that time. Perhaps he's bound to have a darkness in him as a result of his vampiric blood.
nihility 11-25-05, 11:36 AM	As for how did they met, perhaps were they lover before the half-vampire was attacked by a vampire. She was able to rescue him when he was almost dead; while not a true vampire, he still needed blood to survive. I rather like this idea. Maybe you would have become a true vampire, but your lover was able to partially cure you (again, cleric levels are handy here). Unfortunately, she didn't quite pull it off. She still loves you, and feels partially responsible for your condition since she was unable to fully prevent your transformation.