I've just started playing a Ravenloft campaign with my buddies and my roomie is the DM. We decided we were going to start at a pretty hi level so we could use those cool races with the crazy level adjustments. I have always wanted to play as a vampire (level adjustment of +8) so I piscked the Ravenloft Vampire Strain Nosferatu (Essentially a normal vampire that doesn't get obliterated by daylight).
Then he decided that I could play as an old nosferatu which gave me the added bonus of +2 to all my stats, an extra 5 damage reduction, +1 turn resist and a +1 to my AC on top of the base vampire.
This may seem at first like a sweet deal but he also gave the others we were playing with "similar" deals. For example he allowed one of the guys to buy off from fresh all three levels of his level adjustment for a Dwarven Werebear. So leaving him with a level 9 Fighter Werebear with no level adjustment what so ever. While I sit as a puny level 1 Fighter, Old, Nosferatu....
I think this is rediculusly unfair as to the fact that he has essentialy given the other guy 12 levels on me not taking into the fact that he shouldn't even be able to buy off those levels intill he was level 18 anyways having sacraficed approx 54000xp to do so.
I mean I feal damned pathetic in comparison to the rest of the group. I have to constantly put myself in danger just to feed, I lose all my powers durring the day and I can't hold a candle up in fighting ability compared to the rest of my group. I mean I've got 12 bloody hitpoints! The Werebear guy has 120!!! My DM seems to think my stat boost is a fair trade but I just feel screwed. I mean I'm almost posative my character is just going to get curbstomped in a fight early in the game and killed off right away.
Am I just whinning or is this unfair? If it is fair then plaese let me know but if I'm totally being screwed here like I think I am then back me up here or at least give me some options I can suggest to balance things out. I'm pretty sure he won't change any of the other characters anymore so I'm looking for fair suggestions in which i think he should do for me.
Thanks for reading my long assed rant and thanks for the help!
If I were you, I'd simply not go for Vampire. How about a simple Vampire Spawn? Or just a Necropolitan, if you just want to be undead. A Necropolitan doesn't even HAVE level adjustment - you only lose a level by dying when you first become one. After that, be whatever you like.
Also, apart from your own race choice, you seriously need to talk the DM out of allowing LA buyoff for the Werebear. It simply contradicts the rules, and makes the character overpowered for 9th level. Basically, he got the Werebear template for free! If that's not possible, ask why you can't get the Vampire template for free, too. Or play a Werebear yourself...
Another thought: some people hold that you can't be a vampire without having at least five hit dice. The MM states that a creature killed by the Blood Drain ability of a Vampire raises as a Vampire itself if it has at least five HD, or as a Vampire Spawn if it has less. So you might convince your DM that you'd need at least five class levels, or you couldn't be a Vampire - since the Blood Drain/Create Spawn special abilities are obviously the way Vampires come to be "born".
I'll asume that the racial HD were added to figure out the fighters ECL(should be 17). Honestly what do you wish for you to tell you?. the truth is in 95% of cases if not more LA is one of the worst possible things to do. Vampires don't have anything that is near worth it for that LA, honesly if you want undead flavor go for necropolitain (don't you'll HP will be crap effectivly 1d10+1 a level) or if you want to have some vamp flare than the Half-vamp template (Libris Mortis I think) should work for only 2 LA.
@Empirate, Werebears have only 3LA and racial HD don't effect buy off, so he should be able to buy off one LA by now.
So it's not too far off, since you don't realy get much from being a lycan, but if your DM takes that approach he proapably lower your LA to the 4 or 5 it deserves (Honestly for a melee class vamps suck so much (unless necros are around) that they hurt your char's strength, which would make me think they should have like a 0 adjustment in those cases)
All in all, you should all have the same CL, if that is 12 (Thus you would be a lv 4 vampire something and he a 9th level were bear something) or 9 (you as a 1st lv vampire something and he as a 6th lv werebear something) isn't that important, but it should be the same.
And on top, werebear is powerful, vampire is weak. If anyone should get a favour from the GM, its the vampire
Don't you have to have at least five hit dice to even be turned into a vampire?
I would certainly suggest going with something, anything, other than a vampire. Preferably with no level adjustment. It sounds like the kind worth playing (high strength) has been taken already. Maybe you could get like the ethergaunt or something that gets spellcasting. I'm not very familiar with any of those, though. Just a thought.
edit: Well, you guys sure are fast. You posted that stuff in the time it took me to look up the vampire.
uhhh...Please read the posting guidlines first their in my sig.
Not quite sure what I'm doing that I should be reading in there. Please be mosre specific because I read it through the whole thing and I can't tell.
Also as for the being a level 1 vampire I am aware of the fact that it shouldn't be possible but that was built into my back story in that I was turned into a vamp by the mist much like Strahd was so i wasn't actually bitten. It's a minor thing the DM let slip that he figured was making it more "fair" for me.
Lastly what is a Necropolitan? I skimed through the MM I-IV, Libris Mortis and the Ravenloft Denizens of Dread and I didn't see any mention of it. I should probably point out were aren't allowing any D20 material that isn't strictly D&D.
That said, if your Werebear friend got the template for free, you should at -least- end up with as much of a reduction to your own template as the werebear guy. I mean, it's only fair.
Frankly, I hate vampires. Too EMO for me. The only exception I'll make is the Half-Vampire, because D just plain rocks.
What level exactely are you playing at?
We're starting level 9. He doesn't want us to be too powerful. In fact he only put it at 9 so we could play as vampires if we chose to.
(LM p114)
It is a (sort of) 1 LA, you lose a level and 1000xp to become one. You don't really get anything other than the undead template and +2 turn resistence.
Half-Vampire (a child who has a Vampire as one of its parents)
(LM p107)
This template is much better than vampire as has been mention lots.
try to keep the LA to less than 3 after buy off, 4 for BAB users.
an LA of 1 means you give up 1 melee attack per.
its not unheard of for a double threat character in 20 lvls to have full bab and 9th lvl spells. contrast this to the vampire with a max of 12 bab and 5th lvl spells.
straight monk (yuck) BAB is 15.
so, what is the concept your going for? If its 'I like vampires' then go for a lesser type of vampire. If its 'undead' character then try Necropolitian, all gain and the only thing you loose is your life... If its 'Cool template', dont plan on crapping ice cubes, it wont be that cool in the end.
to play your vamp as an LA +8 vampire your going to get the short end of the stick.
the really bad news about it is that a well done Commoner of the same level will beat you up and take your lunch.
the options are yours, just tell your mom to pack some cookies, we like cookies.
--------------------
abit more info.
ECL 9 vampire
Hit points: ~ 17 (D12 max at first =12 + con)
Attack bonus: 0 or 1 + str/dex
Features of note:
Energy drain
Dominate person
vs.
Dominate person grants a Will save. It is at will, unless the srd left that out.
Energy drain, 2 neg lvls, the save @ ECL 9 is ~ 15 max ish requires a melee hit.
A commoner 9 has base 3 saves, plus three bad feats and 3 ability scores of 15 are saving (all 3) at + 8, 7 or better to ignore your only offensive abilities.
thats not optimal by any means. its just a lvl 9 commoner with 3 feats, they have have at least 1 more feat to pick up... not to mention your not going to be encountering commoner 9's very often.
heaven help you when you meet a cleric.
So basicly, if the DM DID want to make it fair I should get some major bonus in some way or just give up all hope cuz I'm toast, but you do agree that the little advantages from being an old vamp don't even come close to being good enough?!
I think this was stated above, but I'd ask my DM for a free LA 3 buyoff to match the werebear. If you're a vampire, most of your abilities are going to have HD-based saves, and with only 1-HD, those saves are going to suck.
If he disagrees, I'd say challenge him to make a 3rd-level cleric that didn't turn your undead ass with a 75+ % probability of success. That's certainly abysmal for an "ECL 9" character.
i forgot to mention before that a maximized magic missile from a lvl 5 mage kills you. (with meta cost reduction)
Cloistered cleric or wizard has lots of tricks to reach higher efficiency, especially the cleric's bolster undead ability which will make you a bit harder to turn. Plus Ravenlost is very undead heavy, so you'll probably be toting around your own bodyguards pretty soon. Every little bit helps
being undead can be very good. just not at a +8 LA
What level exactely are you playing at? If someone gets to play a werebear without level adjustment, you should be allowed to lower your LA by the same amount. Scrap that "old nosferatu stuff". If the Gm really wnats to give you the feeling of true vampire power then at least go with the vampire lord template, which is outright powerful (abeit not so for a PC, as you need to be epic to take it under normal circumstances).
I'm interested in this Vampire Lord template? Where it Located and what are the exact prerec's? It sounds like something that Wizards of The Coast may have come up with to possibly balance their obviously unbalanced Vampire race at a higher level when the level adjustment becomes more of a burden. If that's true and I can find some rule book or proof that it is a "Legal" D&D class and even better if i can prove that it was put in there to balance things then my DM might possibly consider allowing it.
The link leads to the article about vampire lords
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20021018a
The link leads to the article about vampire lords
An article? so it's not in any of the books? Is it still legal then?
:P
Also, just wanted to add that D is so incredibly emo him(or her-?)self, I don't get how emo-ness could be an argument for or against Half-Vampires...
:P
Now, if we use Blade rather than D...
Also, just wanted to add that D is so incredibly emo him(or her-?)self, I don't get how emo-ness could be an argument for or against Half-Vampires...
We haven't been reading the same books, apparently.
**SPOILER ALERT**
In the first book, Doris offers to pay him with her virginity. He accepts. Do note that he mentioned being a high priced Hunter before that as an argument not to take the job. He almost goes through with it, too.
**Ending spoiler alert**
D's got issues, true, but he's definitely NOT emo.
Now, if we use Blade rather than D...
We end up with a black emo.
Back on topic.
Half-Vampires do everything you want them to, and then some. For one, they have a Con score. They're only weak against sunlight if they actually drink blood for sustenance. All the flavor, none of the disadvantages (you're not even Undead!).
how do you tell the difference between and emo and a vampire? smiling wont kill a vampire...
thank you i'll be here all week...
all vampires are emo.
Nah. It really depends on the system...