Born a vampire? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Born a vampire? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Wolvenflames
09-13-03, 01:06 AM Me and my Co-DM have an arguement we need to know about Full blooded vampires see i think they can reproduce i mean why not see i think if a vampire already breaks the Undead type rules then why can't they? see the Undead type rules say hey don't eat sleep or breathe yet a vampire must sleep during day and drink ( there form of eating ) blood by the way any and all rules are what my friend has made i just help the campaign but you see if they have fast healing and can heal a small wound naturally why cant they heal there organs? second lets say you are killed by a vampire in the middle of a war and are left in the sun without being buried you are going to decompose after awhile then comeone comes by and buried your body before its made of bones in 1d4 days you come back up with full skin and hair with no sign of decomposing right? so what happens to the decomposing organs if this is true why can't they naturally heal insted of decompose in the body . if the organs can heal it means a woman vampire can have children cause all her reproducting organs are fine correct? please if you want to talk E-mail me Wolvenflames@aol.com i know some of this sounds stupid but to some it makes sense
-Wolvenflames
JustKim
09-13-03, 02:21 AM if the organs can heal it means a woman vampire can have children cause all her reproducting organs are fine correct?
A vampire's body does regenerate, but it doesn't heal in the sense that a pierced kidney repairs and begins to work. Their bodies only regenerate to resemble what they looked like in life. If they didn't, any wound a vampire received would stay that way forever and after a few years they'd be utterly revolting, not to mention swarming with bugs.

A vampire's life functions no longer work, its body is aesthetic but useless. In order for any of a vampire's organs to do anything, from its heart to its reproductive organs, it would have to be alive. It would also tend to be susceptible to critical hits.

It sounds to me what you're looking for is not a true vampire, but a living predator that feeds on blood. A vampire can't have children any more than a well-preserved corpse can.
rat guy
09-13-03, 02:32 AM do they have cerculating blood.......................
Rinian2
09-13-03, 02:39 AM Vampires are essentially timeless. A great example of this is in Interview with a Vampire; the movie based on Anne Rice's novel.

The vampire girl (can't remember her name) has a bit of a hissy-fit and chops off all her hair. And it all comes back as thick and luxurious as it was before. Her body returned to the "perfect" state it was in at the moment of her vampire birth.

Vampires are undead. The undead breed through fear and violence. Those they kill rise up from hell, filled with anger and hate.

It may sound preachy (or something) but if vampires were actually a race; you would get someone who would want to be a vampire vampire. And that's just silly.
Rotipher
09-13-03, 01:02 PM Originally posted by rat guy
do they have cerculating blood.......................

Unlikely, since as undead they aren't subject to effects like that of a Wounding weapon. My guess is that the blood they consume *does* enter their vascular networks (hence a well-fed vampire looks "ruddy" a la Dracula), but it just sits there, unmoving.

And organs can be intact without actually functioning. A vampire's reproductive organs are like those of any other corpse that bled to death: in one piece, but incapable of producing or releasing live gametes.
Jkol the Butcher
09-13-03, 03:29 PM Vampires are called the eternal damned for good reason -- Vampirism is a curse in many senses of the word. Those infected with the curse are left in a shallow imitation of life and forever denied their deserved afterlife. To do such a thing to an adult or child is itself a great crime -- but give birth to a creature that never true life to begin with -- surely this must be an even greater crime. Such beings would never have been humanoid -- they would be a distinct race. Such a race does not exist in Core Dungeons and Dragons -- but it could quite easily exist in your campaign if you wanted it so. It might even be a plot arc for your campaign -- A rogue clan of vampires is performing profane rituals that may one day allow them to use their reproductive organs. If such a task is achieved they will no longer be mere cursed humaniods who have been killed by Vampires -- but a true breeding undead race. From this could arise a breed of super vampires -- Vampires with fewer weaknesses of their predecessors and who will one day cover the entire world in darkness.
Wolvenflames
09-13-03, 04:42 PM All of this Information is good help it just seems to me that a vampire already is breaking rules think about it they sleep and eat which only one person mentioned second maybe you can clearify another arguement me and Rat Guy have Vampires when they drink blood do they drink all of the blood in the body i say no but Rat guy says they leave your corpse bone dry and once again thank you for all of your help.
Oberon_of_Avalon
09-13-03, 04:49 PM A vampire that drains all of the blood in a body (ie, drains a character down to 0 Constitution) essentially kills its victim. I believe these rise again in X amount of days to become spawn. At least, they do in my setting.

A vampire who is hungry would probalby take all it can get in one sitting, since there's no telling how long it'll have to wait between meals. But a vampire who has "livestock," such as a harem of women, wouldn't want a ton of underlings running around who may eventually rival its power, so it wouldn't suck its victims bone dry. Perhaps take a little blood from each in alternating patterns, so no one victim is being drunk from every feeding period.
The Abominable Darkling
09-13-03, 07:01 PM This is all really academic anyway. D&D contains no rules governing the reproduction of any creature, undead or otherwise. There's really no point in arguing it with your co-DM. If he's made the rules for the game, it's completely up to him whether or not vampires can reproduce sexually.

I personally don't think they should be able to. Undead have no metabolism (and vampires are no exception), which suggets to me that their normal biological functions are non-functional. It doesn't matter that they "feed" on blood. They don't need to. In the game, they suffer no penalty for not feeding.

In any case, this is entirely a flavour issue. The game does not specify the ins and outs of vampirism or even un-life in general. You could certainly have vampires repoduce sexually in your game if you wanted to, but your co-DM obviously doesn't like the idea. I suggest you drop it for now and save it for when you run a game of your own.
Oberon_of_Avalon
09-13-03, 07:05 PM On the subject, I read somewhere that blood sort of fuels a vampire's "engine," which is essentially the negative energy core that animates it. I was wanting to put this aspect into my campaign for all those pesky "I'm a good vampire and since nothing bad happens when I don't drink blood I'll just walk around being goody-two-shoes" players.

I believe it was something like a -1 to its attack rolls, damage, and saves per day it does not feed and when it reaches -10, it dies because its unholy life essence is snuffed out.
DarkSoldier
09-13-03, 09:34 PM In Ravenloft, vampires have to drain at least 4 Con points each night, or suffer cumulative penalties until such sustenance is taken. They can also "shallow feed," where they do Con damage instead of drain, but in that manner, they need 8 points.

The blood-drinking part was actually a veiled literary reference to activities that can't be discussed on a family-oriented forum.

I don't know how D&D vampires use the blood they consume, but in Vampire: the Masquerade, that blood is used to wake up at night, heal (VtM vamps don't automatically regenerate), and power their supernatural abilities.

If your vampire takes the lifedrinker prestige class from the Book of Vile Darkness (or from a recent issue of Dragon; I think it was 288), you can use the consumed blood to enhance your spells and supernatural abilities.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wolvenflames 09-13-03, 01:06 AM	Me and my Co-DM have an arguement we need to know about Full blooded vampires see i think they can reproduce i mean why not see i think if a vampire already breaks the Undead type rules then why can't they? see the Undead type rules say hey don't eat sleep or breathe yet a vampire must sleep during day and drink ( there form of eating ) blood by the way any and all rules are what my friend has made i just help the campaign but you see if they have fast healing and can heal a small wound naturally why cant they heal there organs? second lets say you are killed by a vampire in the middle of a war and are left in the sun without being buried you are going to decompose after awhile then comeone comes by and buried your body before its made of bones in 1d4 days you come back up with full skin and hair with no sign of decomposing right? so what happens to the decomposing organs if this is true why can't they naturally heal insted of decompose in the body . if the organs can heal it means a woman vampire can have children cause all her reproducting organs are fine correct? please if you want to talk E-mail me Wolvenflames@aol.com i know some of this sounds stupid but to some it makes sense -Wolvenflames
JustKim 09-13-03, 02:21 AM	if the organs can heal it means a woman vampire can have children cause all her reproducting organs are fine correct? A vampire's body does regenerate, but it doesn't heal in the sense that a pierced kidney repairs and begins to work. Their bodies only regenerate to resemble what they looked like in life. If they didn't, any wound a vampire received would stay that way forever and after a few years they'd be utterly revolting, not to mention swarming with bugs. A vampire's life functions no longer work, its body is aesthetic but useless. In order for any of a vampire's organs to do anything, from its heart to its reproductive organs, it would have to be alive. It would also tend to be susceptible to critical hits. It sounds to me what you're looking for is not a true vampire, but a living predator that feeds on blood. A vampire can't have children any more than a well-preserved corpse can.
rat guy 09-13-03, 02:32 AM	do they have cerculating blood.......................
Rinian2 09-13-03, 02:39 AM	Vampires are essentially timeless. A great example of this is in Interview with a Vampire; the movie based on Anne Rice's novel. The vampire girl (can't remember her name) has a bit of a hissy-fit and chops off all her hair. And it all comes back as thick and luxurious as it was before. Her body returned to the "perfect" state it was in at the moment of her vampire birth. Vampires are undead. The undead breed through fear and violence. Those they kill rise up from hell, filled with anger and hate. It may sound preachy (or something) but if vampires were actually a race; you would get someone who would want to be a vampire vampire. And that's just silly.
Rotipher 09-13-03, 01:02 PM	Originally posted by rat guy do they have cerculating blood....................... Unlikely, since as undead they aren't subject to effects like that of a Wounding weapon. My guess is that the blood they consume does enter their vascular networks (hence a well-fed vampire looks "ruddy" a la Dracula), but it just sits there, unmoving. And organs can be intact without actually functioning. A vampire's reproductive organs are like those of any other corpse that bled to death: in one piece, but incapable of producing or releasing live gametes.
Jkol the Butcher 09-13-03, 03:29 PM	Vampires are called the eternal damned for good reason -- Vampirism is a curse in many senses of the word. Those infected with the curse are left in a shallow imitation of life and forever denied their deserved afterlife. To do such a thing to an adult or child is itself a great crime -- but give birth to a creature that never true life to begin with -- surely this must be an even greater crime. Such beings would never have been humanoid -- they would be a distinct race. Such a race does not exist in Core Dungeons and Dragons -- but it could quite easily exist in your campaign if you wanted it so. It might even be a plot arc for your campaign -- A rogue clan of vampires is performing profane rituals that may one day allow them to use their reproductive organs. If such a task is achieved they will no longer be mere cursed humaniods who have been killed by Vampires -- but a true breeding undead race. From this could arise a breed of super vampires -- Vampires with fewer weaknesses of their predecessors and who will one day cover the entire world in darkness.
Wolvenflames 09-13-03, 04:42 PM	All of this Information is good help it just seems to me that a vampire already is breaking rules think about it they sleep and eat which only one person mentioned second maybe you can clearify another arguement me and Rat Guy have Vampires when they drink blood do they drink all of the blood in the body i say no but Rat guy says they leave your corpse bone dry and once again thank you for all of your help.
Oberon_of_Avalon 09-13-03, 04:49 PM	A vampire that drains all of the blood in a body (ie, drains a character down to 0 Constitution) essentially kills its victim. I believe these rise again in X amount of days to become spawn. At least, they do in my setting. A vampire who is hungry would probalby take all it can get in one sitting, since there's no telling how long it'll have to wait between meals. But a vampire who has "livestock," such as a harem of women, wouldn't want a ton of underlings running around who may eventually rival its power, so it wouldn't suck its victims bone dry. Perhaps take a little blood from each in alternating patterns, so no one victim is being drunk from every feeding period.
The Abominable Darkling 09-13-03, 07:01 PM	This is all really academic anyway. D&D contains no rules governing the reproduction of any creature, undead or otherwise. There's really no point in arguing it with your co-DM. If he's made the rules for the game, it's completely up to him whether or not vampires can reproduce sexually. I personally don't think they should be able to. Undead have no metabolism (and vampires are no exception), which suggets to me that their normal biological functions are non-functional. It doesn't matter that they "feed" on blood. They don't need to. In the game, they suffer no penalty for not feeding. In any case, this is entirely a flavour issue. The game does not specify the ins and outs of vampirism or even un-life in general. You could certainly have vampires repoduce sexually in your game if you wanted to, but your co-DM obviously doesn't like the idea. I suggest you drop it for now and save it for when you run a game of your own.
Oberon_of_Avalon 09-13-03, 07:05 PM	On the subject, I read somewhere that blood sort of fuels a vampire's "engine," which is essentially the negative energy core that animates it. I was wanting to put this aspect into my campaign for all those pesky "I'm a good vampire and since nothing bad happens when I don't drink blood I'll just walk around being goody-two-shoes" players. I believe it was something like a -1 to its attack rolls, damage, and saves per day it does not feed and when it reaches -10, it dies because its unholy life essence is snuffed out.
DarkSoldier 09-13-03, 09:34 PM	In Ravenloft, vampires have to drain at least 4 Con points each night, or suffer cumulative penalties until such sustenance is taken. They can also "shallow feed," where they do Con damage instead of drain, but in that manner, they need 8 points. The blood-drinking part was actually a veiled literary reference to activities that can't be discussed on a family-oriented forum. I don't know how D&D vampires use the blood they consume, but in Vampire: the Masquerade, that blood is used to wake up at night, heal (VtM vamps don't automatically regenerate), and power their supernatural abilities. If your vampire takes the lifedrinker prestige class from the Book of Vile Darkness (or from a recent issue of Dragon; I think it was 288), you can use the consumed blood to enhance your spells and supernatural abilities.