So the King is a Vampire

[sbarron]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

And for another good fantasy yarn that touches on a King killing subjects for eternal youth, and the stuggles of the King's heroes that learn of it, The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan is really good stuff.

 

It's really just a subplot of the book, and it's more necromatic than vampiric evil. But I can't reccommend this book highly enough if you're looking for some good ideas...

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Understatement--I'm still trying to figure out what happened precisely during The Day of Mourning, and who/how the Lord of Blades ties into it.

 

However, Kaius I had a leginimate reason for being throned again.

 

Actually, this is one of the things I love about Eberron. The creator, Keith Baker, has stated that the cause of the Day of Mourning will never be officially/canonically stated. It's up to each individual GM to decide what happened that day (and, by extension ... if it can happen again), and how, or even if, the Lord of Blades tied into it.

 

He's even said that he won't publically state *his* view on it, because he's afraid that, as the creator, it will be taken as canonical even if he prefaces it with a big fat 'IN MY CAMPAIGN, NOT NECESSARILY YOURS, the Day of Mourning was ...' and encourage GMs to go along with his idea.

[Curufea]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Vampires are demons. End of story.

 

Heretics may have other opinions. That's OK, because it's OK to kill heretics and take their stuff too.

Depends on how close minded and unresearched you are ;-p

Vampires may be demons - they're certainly established as such in the Buffy and Angel series, but I tend to look beyond Josh Weedon occasionally if I do this little thing called "research", and, say, look at another person. Or even a book!

;-p

 

Vampires could be hopping zombies as established in Chinese mythos.

They could be a viral disease as written in several books.

They could be a symbiotic alien creature from Brian Lumley's books.

Or, traditionally, it can be God's Curse for blaspheming against the Church and drinking blood from the Dracula movie

 

Vampires are as malleable in mythos as dragons or elves. They're whatever you want for your campaign.

 

What hasn't been spoken much about so far - is vampire rulers that aren't known to be vampires. And this is very dependant on what particular weaknesses your version of vampires have as to whether this is difficult to do, or not.

[Manic Typist]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

It's true. About the only bird that is harder to train is the emu.

 

Stupid, stupid emus.

 

Keith "Nothing personal. Some of my best friends are emus." Curtis

 

Maybe they are just too smart to put up with our crap?

 

"You want me to do WHAT? Um, how about I just crap on your shoes instead? M'kay?"

 

Manic "Not An Emu Collaborator" Typist

[oberon]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Maybe they are just too smart to put up with our crap?

 

"You want me to do WHAT? Um, how about I just crap on your shoes instead? M'kay?"

 

Manic "Not An Emu Collaborator" Typist

No. No, they are just stupid. Trust me

 

oberon

[Matto]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

What hasn't been spoken much about so far - is vampire rulers that aren't known to be vampires. And this is very dependant on what particular weaknesses your version of vampires have as to whether this is difficult to do' date=' or not.[/quote']

 

Also true. My vampire-expert is not currently on staff, but I've been told that Dracula could walk during the day, though it weakened him. And it could put players in a difficult situation if they were to stumble upon the king's secret. If the king were either good or important in his position, players would have to debate removing him from power. If he were evil (or even a Machiavellian, sort-of-good) they would have to evade his wrath.

[UltraRob]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

One interesting take is the backstory of the Vampire Hunter D novels, in which ALL the leaders were Vampires! The "Nobility" as they were called, just plain took over, and in between snacking on their populations used their immortality to bring about a great age of art and science. (Which many of them used to help their human populations, if it didn't threaten the vampires in some way.)

 

If one country has an immortal vampire leader, then in a sense other countries without one might be at a disadvantage when you think about it. Skilled and immortal leaders could conduct plans lasting human generations to bring about the downfall of other nations around them, and bring more territory under their control. They can produce legions of vampire soldiers to ravage enemy cities (which admittedly would need to be staked later, but c'est la mort) and are likely powerful sorcerers or necromancers in their own right. The guys WITHOUT the Vampire leader are probably the ones who are in trouble, assuming the Vampires are more Dracula and less slavering undead.

 

Of course, the same logic could be used to explain settings where Sorcerer clans ruled as well...

 

Rob

[Alibear]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

So we wern't breaking the mold having Mrs. Thatcher in charge back then. In fact having a blood sucking parasite running the country was a good thing after all.

[Markdoc]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

So we wern't breaking the mold having Mrs. Thatcher in charge back then. In fact having a blood sucking parasite running the country was a good thing after all.

 

Not really, when you consider how it turned out

 

cheers, Mark

[Captain Obvious]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Keith "Nothing personal. Some of my best friends are emus." Curtis

 

Oh really? Have you ever invited one to your house for dinner, then? Or is that just something you tell yourself so you feel better?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Minor threadjack (although after the emu-lation, I don't feel bad ...):

 

How many people out there insist that vampires have to subsist on human blood, rather than being able to use animal blood?

[Fitz]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

It really depends on the sort of campaign I'm running at the time, and the sort of vampires appropriate to the campaign.

 

If vampirism is some kind of nasty spiritual drain, using the blood as a medium, then only human (or maybe sentient) blood will do (e.g. a Fantasy vampire, or possibly a Cthulhoid Horror campaign fiend).

 

If vampirism is just a digestive thing, then any sort of haemoglobin-based blood will do the trick (e.g. a Sci-Fi alien creature, or maybe a previously-undiscovered Pulp campaign critter from Darkest Africa).

 

If it's a psychological abberation, then probably only human, but dependent on the particular delusion involved (e.g. maybe a modern "X-Files" type campign).

 

That's the great thing about vampires; they're so flexible. There's a vampire for every job

[Eosin]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Minor threadjack (although after the emu-lation, I don't feel bad ...):

 

How many people out there insist that vampires have to subsist on human blood, rather than being able to use animal blood?

 

In the western classical meaning, they do. Other bloodsuckers abound but Vampires (note the capitol V) are the elder king of damsel ravishing, cross fearing, human eatin, blood suckers.

 

In the context of vampire(s), small v, there are as many permutations as there are stories. Some suck the life force, some get jiggy on psychic eminations, some are nearly mindless brutes driven to kill, and some don't feed at all - they just wear the cool trencher, shades, and get to have the bad monkey powers.

[assault]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Depends on how close minded and unresearched you are ;-p

Vampires may be demons - they're certainly established as such in the Buffy and Angel series, but I tend to look beyond Josh Weedon occasionally if I do this little thing called "research", and, say, look at another person. Or even a book!

 

You should take your own advice.

 

---

 

More importantly, the "sympathetic vampire" seems to be a (primarily) modern reinterpretation of the legends. Frankly, it's rather creepy.

 

To put it simply, if any of my characters ever ran into a sympathetic vampire in a game, they would stake it, and I would smile my widest smile at the GM... I do that kind of thing occasionally.

 

WARNING: Game Anecdote!

 

One such occasion occurred in a Runequest game. One of the other PCs was an heir whose inheritance had been stolen by his Evil Uncle. Eventually the GM set up a touching reconciliation scene. Unfortunately he forgot that my character was a Berserker...

[assault]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

In the context of vampire(s)' date=' small v, there are as many permutations as there are stories. ... some don't feed at all - they just wear the cool trencher, shades, and get to have the bad monkey powers.[/quote']

 

These are the most evil of them all.

[Markdoc]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Minor threadjack (although after the emu-lation, I don't feel bad ...):

 

How many people out there insist that vampires have to subsist on human blood, rather than being able to use animal blood?

 

In my game, any blood will do, but the vampire tends to take on aspects of it's prey over time, so needs the blood of sentients to stay smart. A vampire reduced to preying only on animals would become an animalistic, ravening thing.

 

That's because the blood isn't actually food (I mean a vampire's dead! He doesn't get the munchies) but a way of setting up a sympathetic link so the vampire can drain life-force to keep himself animated.

 

cheers, Mark

[Curufea]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

Aside from the gruntling of the disgruntled (sorry I offended you there, assault, obviously the smileys didn't translate)

 

There's interesting versions in Nochnoi Dozor as well - where all supernaturals, or "other" are a kind of subspecies of humanity that may or may not come into their power. It takes an extraordinary event to waken their other-ness. Althought the movie does imply it is hereditory as well, as well as through biting that vampirism can be transferred.

[OddHat]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

The way I depict vampires varies by campaign. By default, I blend the idea of Vamires with In-Betweeners. It's not the Blood my Western vampires feed on, it's the psychic energy of their prey. If the prey isn't alive and feeling intense emotion (usually terror) the feeding is worthless and the vampire remains hungry. There are vampires that feed on other emotions (love, lust, greed, joy, etc). Further, Vampires (and other In-Betweeners) tend to have poor impulse control and low or no empathy. Even the vamps that feed on Love and have enough self control to avoid killing their prey are not Ann Rice style Happy Sex Mosquitoes.

 

However, I have run campaigns where Vampires did not need to torture or kill their prey; I might not much like that take, but my players did.

[Lethosos]

Re: So the King is a Vampire

 

I'm more fond of an interesting take for vampires--the concept that they have a portion of their soul riven from them (aside from the curse of vampirism inflicted on the original Elders and passed down from childer to childer.) these missing peices correspond to something that drives them still--wether from the act of nilhlism, loss of the concept of love, to simply needing to eat a pound of flesh every week. They were called "Lacunas", and each is associated with a dark deity. (Apparently, the Elders were trying to unlock the prison that holds Mirimoggin, Lord of Hunger, the Dark Prime of Cannibalism. The other Dark Primes stopped them, but not before their "judge" inflicted the Lacunas on them and Mirimoggin managed to instill them with a portion of his divinity.)