Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Braekor Dragonfang 05-23-07, 03:36 PM	The Half Vampire These creatures, often referred to as the “Half-Cursed” or “Half-Dead” are viewed by most as mistakes of creation; not quite alive or dead, and not quite undead, the product of unions between the dead and the living. The Half-Cursed are outcasts and loners, shunned by vampires and hated by humans. Most are killed at birth; others manage to scratch out the semblance of a life, some may even find acceptance among the living, though they will eventually die as the Half-Cursed linger on. Half Vampires often have dark and attractive features, such as black hair, crimson eyes, and pale skin that seems somehow overshadowed by darkness. Half Vampires cast shadows and have reflections in mirrors. Creating a Half Vampire “Half-Vampire” is an acquired template that can be applied to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid (referred to hereafter as the base creature). Size and Type: The base creature retains its type but gains the augmented undead subtype. This represents the half-living qualities the half vampire possesses. and exhibits the following traits based on its subtype: The half vampire possesses a constitution score Darkvision out to 60ft The half vampire is not immune to effects requiring fortitude saves, mind affecting effects, paralysis, stunning, or death effects, however the half vampire receives a second save to resist death effects and is immune to poison and disease The half vampire is immune to magical sleep effects, but must sleep at least four hours each day, and must eat and breathe The half vampire is subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, and ability drain and damage, as well as exhaustion, but it does not fatigue. This can be dangerous as a Half Vampire has difficulty recognizing its limitations. Half vampires take half damage from negative energy effects and inflict spells, but also heal only half damage from positive energy effects including cure/heal spells The half vampire does not die at 0 hitpoints, but is subject to death from massive damage Use constitution for concentration checks The half vampire can be affected by any effect that returns the dead to life, but can never be cured of the Half-Curse in this manner Hit Dice: All non-class hit dice are increased to d12 Speed: Same as the base creature Armor Class: The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +3 Attacks: The base creature retains its natural attacks Special Attacks: A Half Vampire retains the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below: Saves have a DC of 10 + ½ the half vampire’s HD + Cha Mod Blood Drain (Ex) A vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A Half Vampire must drink 2 constitution points worth of blood each day or take a –2 penalty to their own constitution for each day they have gone without drinking blood (Each day Fortitude DC 20 + 1 for each previous save), and die when they reach 0. This blood need not be fresh from a body; it can be chilled, preserved, or even magically conjured. Charm (Su): A Half Vampire can entrance and influence another’s mind with a simple look. This ability functions as a charm person and charm monster spell, but is a gaze attack with a range of 30ft. The half vampire may only affect one target at a time with this ability. The Half-Curse (Ex): If a Half Vampire pins a humanoid or monstrous humanoid foe and uses it’s blood drain ability, it can choose not to drain blood and instead inject it’s own blood, taking 1 point of temporary constitution damage to infect the creature with the Half-Curse. The target gets a DC 14 fortitude save, but for each point of extra constitution damage the Half Vampire takes, increase the save DC by 2, to a maximum of 30. If the save is failed, the target becomes a half vampire, but is not under the control of it’s infector. Half Vampires who fall in love will often use this to save a dying loved one, usually either forging an eternal bond or creating a rift between the two and alienating each other forever. Special Qualities: A half vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below Light Aversion (Ex): When first exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or a daylight spell, the half vampire is blinded for ten rounds minus his constitution modifier (minimum 1). Afterward he is dazzled for 1d6 minutes. Even after the dazzled effect passes, the half vampire takes a -6 penalty on spot and search checks in areas of bright light. Water Aversion (Ex): When first fully immersed in any water, the half vampire is stunned for 1d4 rounds. Thereafter he takes a -8 penalty to swim checks and can only hold his breath for half the usual time. If the base creature has a swim speed, the Half Vampire does not possess a water aversion. Damage Reduction (Ex): The half vampire has damage reduction 5/magic and silver. Cursed Blessing (Su): A Half Vampire automatically heals 1 hit point per hit die it possesses each hour. It loses this ability if it is unconscious, dying or reduced to 0 hitpoints or less; as it requires conscious awareness of the wounds to heal, and must stabilize to resume healing. Turn Resistance +8 (Ex): A half vampire’s pseudo-living existence makes it more resistant to turning. Spider Climb (Ex): a Half Vampire can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell Abilities: +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Cha; Half Vampires are not as strong, quick, or personable as their sires, but their half-life increases their hardiness Skills: Half Vampires have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, and Move Silently, Listen, Spot, and Sense Motive checks. Feats: a Half Vampire may choose any one feat that a vampire gains automatically, as long as the half vampire meets the prerequisites. Level Adjustment: +2 Thoughts? Ideas? Compliments? Insults? :D
NerdNumber1 05-23-07, 05:08 PM	There already is a half-vampire template in Libris Mortis for +2 LA. Just wanted to tell you that before anything else.
Braekor Dragonfang 05-23-07, 11:00 PM	There already is a half-vampire template in Libris Mortis for +2 LA. Just wanted to tell you that before anything else. i know. hence the word My before Half Vampire Template :D
Braekor Dragonfang 05-24-07, 10:49 PM	:bump:
Thief_of_Hope 05-26-07, 01:54 AM	*whisper*I sleep with dead people. Everywhere. VERY interesting. I like how this one makes you more undead than alive, rather than the other way around. I could even see how having both templates present in a campaign world would make sense, since one wouldn't think ALL children of freaky unions like this would be the same. I personally am fond of the flavor and how it is conveyed, and I really like the abilities of the template. I am not, unfortunately, at all experienced in the ways of balancing races or templates, and so will leave that to someone with more expertise. However, I like this template, and as soon as there has been good discussion and general agreement on whether the LA is balanced, I would like to use it. Nice work. Perhaps if we invoke his name, YabaTheWhat will grace us with a feature point scoring. I LOVE his feature point system (although I currently don't grasp it too well if I try to use it).
Braekor Dragonfang 05-26-07, 05:20 PM	*whisper*I sleep with dead people. Everywhere. VERY interesting. I like how this one makes you more undead than alive, rather than the other way around. I could even see how having both templates present in a campaign world would make sense, since one wouldn't think ALL children of freaky unions like this would be the same. I personally am fond of the flavor and how it is conveyed, and I really like the abilities of the template. I am not, unfortunately, at all experienced in the ways of balancing races or templates, and so will leave that to someone with more expertise. However, I like this template, and as soon as there has been good discussion and general agreement on whether the LA is balanced, I would like to use it. Nice work. Perhaps if we invoke his name, YabaTheWhat will grace us with a feature point scoring. I LOVE his feature point system (although I currently don't grasp it too well if I try to use it). :yuck: :rofl: thanks. I wanted this to be more flavorful than mechanical, but then messing with mechanics is how the flavor translates into game terms. As far as level adjustment goes, I had been toying with LA +3, but considering the limitations and drawbacks of the template, I went with LA +2. Generally I just try to use common sense (which is a stretch for me, considering I normally don't have much, if any). Glad you liked it.
Rerecros 05-26-07, 06:39 PM	:mymy: looks an awful lot like my living dead type :D
Sagittarius_Rex 05-29-07, 10:11 AM	A half-vampire? Isn't that a bit like being half-pregnant? But seriously- It sounds like the hero from "the Lost Boys" who had drunk vampire blood (giving him some of their abilities); but hadn't yet drunk human blood (keeping him from being subject to all their restrictions). In other words- a Renfield.
itwasntme 05-29-07, 10:52 AM	half vampire only +2 la? Kinda replaces the whole Drow then as a playable race? honestly if you could play in a normol game and you could choose to be a half vampire or drow thats liveing with normol adventures im sure more people will pick half vampire inless there hardcore die fans of drow i understand the negitives but im just stateing for LA you should look at other creatures with the same LA and determin if your race can be better or worse then they are in 1on1 battles or 4on4 battles (4 half vampires vs 4 drow) in even combat in most situations or not even combat just would they be a better race? some basic classes to insert the race would be clerics wizards Fighter rouge (Or a Varient of each differnt class like wizard / scor or rouge / bard)
RobbyPants 05-29-07, 11:20 AM	Light Aversion (Ex): When first exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or a daylight spell, the half vampire is blinded for ten rounds minus his constitution modifier (minimum 1). Afterward he is dazzled for 1d4 hours + 1d6 minutes. Even after the dazzled effect passes, the half vampire takes a -6 penalty on spot and search checks in areas of bright light. I'm curious why the dazzled condition lasts 1d4 hours + 1d6 minutes. Why that extra little bit? It seems a bit pointless. All in all, I think you did a fairly nice job. I'm not great with gauging LAs for races and templates (which is why I've had so much trouble with my own modified vampire template), but I don't think that +2 it too far off base. ;)
Czar_Kain 05-29-07, 12:58 PM	Having a Con bonus on the template seems to go against the grain of the character, if anything I would give it a penelty on Con. Overall I liked it though. Dave
Gentlemanic 05-29-07, 01:00 PM	It's too powerful IMO. It is better than the half-vampire presented in Libris Mortis in almost every way but still has the same ajustment. Those ability scores are a very nice bonus already! I think that you have overdone it, though I can see you have put a lot of effort in this, I would never allow it any of my campaigns personally.
Braekor Dragonfang 05-30-07, 12:32 AM	itwasntme: Could you explain your reasons why you believe this? Unless you can specifically tell me what you think warrants it being overpowered for +2 LA, I have no way of addressing the issue. As far as looking at other creatures, I compared it to the Mineral Warrior (+1 LA), Half Dragon (+3 LA), Shadow-walker (+1 LA), Vampire (+8 LA) and Half Fiend/Celestial (+4 LA). The problem is, templates are inconsistent, and there is barely any commonalities between templates and races. For example, compare Mineral Warrior to Chameleonic to Drow, all from the same book, but all incredibly inconsistent in power. the Mineral warrior is in stronger than the drow martially, while the drow has a profound edge over spellcasters, and comparably the Chameleonic template suddenly looks like it should be free. by that same token, Drow have a huge edge over half vampire spellcasters (sorcerers for example), while Half vampire barbarians/fighters/rangers have a much better chance against drow. Conversely, if the drow were martial you'd be looking at something like a multiclassed rogue/fighter/swashbuckler/assassin/duelist (exaggeration, but you get the idea). so the drow swashbucker/rogue does the old Feint-and-Rape tactic, plus factor in that drow are rarely stupid enough to fight a fair fight, and will use poisoned blades and sniper allies Robbypants: no particular reason :D Gentlemaniac: I don't have the libris mortis so i couldn't compare, and even if I did, it seems pointless to create a template if your going to base it on an existing version. Mostly I just looked at the vampire template. As I said to itwasntme, please tell me specific reasons why you think it's overpowered so I can address them
Gentlemanic 05-30-07, 01:51 AM	- The half vampire is immune to magical sleep effects, but must sleep at least four hours each day, and must eat and breathe - Half vampire casters should rest 8 hours to refresh their minds in order to cast spells. This is just plain wrong IMO. - The half vampire is subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, and ability drain and damage, as well as exhaustion, but it does not fatigue. This can be dangerous as a Half Vampire has difficulty recognizing its limitations. - Immunity to fatigue sounds more like some drugged, jungle races than a half vampire to me. Why not Give him a +2 to saves to restist necromancy effects, ability damage/drain and fatigue/exhaustion? - Half vampires take half damage from negative energy effects and inflict spells, but also heal only half damage from positive energy effects including cure/heal spells - Why do they take half damage from inflict? I'd follow warforged guidelines here. - Armor Class: The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +3 - I'd follow the libris guideline (only +2). - Blood Drain (Ex) A vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A Half Vampire must drink 2 constitution points worth of blood each day or take a –2 penalty to their own constitution for each day they have gone without drinking blood, and die when they reach 0. This blood need not be fresh from a body; it can be chilled, preserved, or even magically conjured. - This might be hard to keep up with. Why not give him a save to resist his bloodlust (fort dc 20 + 1 per previous save he made to resist this effect) each day? Failing the save means the penalty. - Charm (Su): A Half Vampire can entrance and influence another’s mind with a simple look. This ability functions as a charm person and charm monster spell, but is a gaze attack with a range of 30ft. - I'd drop this altogether, way to powerful for a pc. Think what it could do in a plain city. - The Half-Curse (Ex): If a Half Vampire pins a humanoid or monstrous humanoid foe and uses it’s blood drain ability, it can choose not to drain blood and instead inject it’s own blood, taking 1 point of temporary constitution damage to infect the creature with the Half-Curse. The target gets a DC 14 fortitude save, but for each point of extra constitution damage the Half Vampire takes, increase the save DC by 2, to a maximum of 30. If the save is failed, the target becomes a half vampire, but is not under the control of it’s infector. Half Vampires who fall in love will often use this to save a dying loved one, usually either forging an eternal bond or creating a rift between the two and alienating each other forever. - Fluffy. Far too complicated. - Light Aversion (Ex): When first exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or a daylight spell, the half vampire is blinded for ten rounds minus his constitution modifier (minimum 1). Afterward he is dazzled for 1d4 hours + 1d6 minutes. Even after the dazzled effect passes, the half vampire takes a -6 penalty on spot and search checks in areas of bright light. - You go carried away with the time, being dazzled for hours is weird. The d6 minutes is juist fine. The -6 is also good. - Water Aversion (Ex): When first fully immersed in any water, the half vampire is stunned for 1d4 rounds. Thereafter he takes a -8 penalty to swim checks and can only hold his breath for half the usual time. If the base creature has a swim speed, the Half Vampire does not possess a water aversion. - I'd instead let him gain d4 subdual damage each round when in contact and d6 when fully emerged in water. When entering water let him make a will save (dc 15 sounds ok) to avoid the stun effect. - Damage Reduction (Ex): The half vampire has damage reduction 5/magic and silver. This damage reduction doesn't apply to wooden piercing weapons -Let t also apply to piercing. - Turn Resistance +8 (Ex): A half vampire’s pseudo-living existence makes it more resistant to turning. -So he can be turned? Nice. How about +4, like most non-epic creatures? - Spider Climb (Ex): a Half Vampire can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell - I'd drop this. - Abilities: +4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Cha; Half Vampires are not as strong, quick, or personable as their sires, but their half-life increases their hardiness -Totally overdone. +2 STR, DEX and CHA is enough. Having more con doesn't seem right anyway. - Skills: Half Vampires have a +4 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, and Move Silently checks, and a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, and Sense Motive checks. - Low all to +2. - Feats: a Half Vampire may choose any one feat that a vampire gains automatically, as long as the half vampire meets the prerequisites. - Give them a single free feat. The choice is overwhelming. Just my thoughts.
Braekor Dragonfang 05-30-07, 09:25 AM	Thanks for the input 1: I never said half vampire casters get reduced rest time did I? Elves meditate for 4 hours instead of sleep, but still must prepare spells normally. Be careful not to assume things not written :D 2: I like the saves, your reason for offering them up is a little strange though. (drugged jungle race? what does that mean :confused: ) 2.5: The half damage/heal is because the half vampire is half undead and half alive, its flavorful :D 3: 3 natural armor is 1/2 the vampire's natural armor, thats why I put it in, as I said I based a lot of it on the vampire template. It doesn't seem all that abusive, but yours is a reasonable adjustment 4: I didn't allow a save mostly because of the strain any half vampire would be under to live, meaning they would have to choose between living like monsters or dying a miserable death, though it would be fairly easy to catch an animal for sustenance, but I agree, a save would be a good idea. 5: Vampires have Dominate and PCs still play them. It's up to the DM to prevent idiocy, but I do think I'll make some changes. And as far as half curse goes, it's supposed to be fluffy and complicated, I mean who do you think he is? a vampire?! Anyway, I like fluffy templates, because templates should be more than just stats boosts and bland characters with huge mommy/daddy issues (not to mention a chip on the shoulder, must keep in line with stereotypes :)) 6: Good point, and I pretty much inserted a random time for dazzled 7: subdual damage? the poor guy's gonna drown anyway and you wanna tack on more penalties!? Sadist :D 8: Piercing? why? vampires had no aversion to piercing, just wooden stakes, hence the wooden piercing. 9: complaining about turn resistance and referencing epic characters. melodramatic much? as it says the half vampire is as much alive as undead, so since half of him is unturnable, I think it makes sense. 10: I wouldn't. spider climb is situational, and only useful for characters who frequently need to climb, like thieves. Barbarians and Sorcerers probably won't be relying on this much, though it adds flavor IMO 11: The con bonus is because having undead blood actually braces them against living issues like disease and poison and the like, they're not sickly and not very normal constitution wise. The ability bonuses are not that influential, depending on what class you use, but I'll drop strength to +2 12: I agree with the skill bonus drop 13: no two half vampires will be the same classwise or even fluffwise, so why restrict feats? multiple player options are good, and getting pigeonholed into +4 LA because of crappy racial spell-like abilities (Half Fiend/Celestial) blows, so by the same token, why pigeonhole someone into a single feat when all characters are different? besides, most of the feat choices arent that impressive.
AMGriffin 05-30-07, 10:16 AM	Ah hell, I own the Libris Mortis, but I have my own Dhampir Template, so yeah...look and be inspired! Creating a Dhampir “Dhampir” is an inherited template that can be applied to any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant. Referred to hereafter as the base creature. Size and Type: Size and type remain unchanged. Darkvision out to 60ft Immunity to disease Speed: Same as base creature +10 feet. Armor Class: The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +2 Attacks: The base creature retains its natural attacks Special Attacks: A Dhampir retains the special attacks of the base creature and gains the following described below Blood Drain (Ex) A Dhampir can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points temporary constitution damage each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points, drinking blood will cure a dhampir of fatigue or any other sort of physical ailment. Special Qualities: A Dhampir retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below. The thirst (ex): They do not need blood to survive, but dhampir are still born with the thirst of their vampiric parents. Each day a dhampir goes without drinking 5 Hitpoints worth of blood, they must make a will save equal to 10+the number of days since they have drank blood. On a failed save, a dhampir takes 1D4 wisdom damage that remains present until a dhampir is able to feed on blood again. Damage Reduction (Ex): The Dhampir has damage reduction 5/magic and silver. Fast Healing 1 Abilities: +2 Strength, +4 Constitution, +2 Wisdom; Dhampir are born stronger and keener then their living parents, but also posess an uncanny resilience as a result of their undead bloodline. Skills: Dhampir have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, and Move Silently, Listen, Spot, and Sense Motive checks. They also gain a +4 bonus on climb checks. Feats: A dhampir may choose any one feat that a vampire gains automatically, as long as the dhampir meets the prerequisites. Level Adjustment: +2
Gentlemanic 05-30-07, 11:13 AM	Your ajustments are reasonable. Some explanations: - 'crazed jungle race' revers to something like a barbarian in rage. - The damage reduction should be 5/ silver or magic. I'd leave piercing out of it totally. - You are right about the spiderclimb. I have reviewed the spell and it's not overpowering. I do think the charm is dangerous though. Why not let them use it as an attack instead, and not being continues?
Braekor Dragonfang 05-30-07, 08:59 PM	Your ajustments are reasonable. Some explanations: - 'crazed jungle race' revers to something like a barbarian in rage. - The damage reduction should be 5/ silver or magic. I'd leave piercing out of it totally. - You are right about the spiderclimb. I have reviewed the spell and it's not overpowering. I do think the charm is dangerous though. Why not let them use it as an attack instead, and not being continues? 1: i see 2: point taken 3: that makes more sense, and is actually what I was trying to replicate, just wasn't sure how to word it.