Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 20 STR 10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH Damage 15 DEX 15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 15 CON 10 12- 12 BODY 4 11- 10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 11- 10 EGO 0 11- ECV: 3 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 2d6 10 COM 0 11- 8 PD 4 Total: 8 PD ( rPD) 4 ED 1 Total: 4 ED ( rED) 3 SPD 5 Phases: 4, 8, 12 8 REC 2 30 END 0 30 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 56 Movement: Running: 7"/14" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 6 "Game Face": +10 PRE, Offensive Only (-1/2), Only to cause Fear (-1/4) 7 Fangs: HKA 1 point (1/2 d6 w/STR), Penetrating (+1/2) 33 Drink Blood: HKA 1d6 (15) NND (defense is not having blood;+1), Does BODY (+1) Continuous (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1/2); No Range (-1/2), Fangs must do BODY first (-1/2) 64 Spread of Vampirism: Major Transform 10d6, Reduced END (0 END, +1/2); No Range (-1/2), All or Nothing (-1/2), Limited Target/humans (-1/2), Must Drain All But 1 BODY With Drink Blood, Then Feed Target 1/2 BODY of Own Blood (-1) 2 Undead Body: Damage Resistance 3 PD/ 1 ED 20 Undead Resilience: Damage Reduction 50% Resistant Physical; Not vs. staking or decapitation (-1/2) 17 Vampiric Regeneration: Healing 1d6/ Regeneration 1 BODY per Hour, Resurrection (not versus vampire banes including fire, sunlight, staking, decapitation, and damage from holy items), Reduced END (0 END, +1/2), Persistent (+1/2); Self Only (-1/2), Extra Time/ per Hour (-2) 47 Undead Vitality: Life Support vs. all conditions (minus Diminished Eating) 2 Swift: Running +1Ó (7Ó) 6 Vampiric Senses: +2 PER (16-) 5 Vampiric Senses: Nightvision Skills 5 +1 with HTH Combat 3 Concealment (11-) 2 PS: hobby or skill (11-) 5 Stealth +1 (13-) 224 Total Powers & Skills Cost 280 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 10 Distinctive Features: Dead (concealed with effort, Major reaction) 15 Distinctive Features: No Reflection (NC, Major Reaction) 20 Enraged: at the sight or smell of Blood (common) go 11-, recover 11- 20 Psychological Limitation: Cannot enter a building without invitation (common, total) 10 Psychological Limitation: Considers Humanity cattle (common, moderate) 25 Susceptibility: to holy objects (common) 2d6/Phase 25 Susceptibility: to direct sunlight (very common) 2d6/Turn 10 Vulnerability: x2 STUN from wood 10 Vulnerability: x2 BODY from wood 60 Experience 280 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: As Giles put it in the second episode of the BUFFY series, "contrary to popular mythology, (this world) did not begin as a paradise." It was originally ruled by an elder race of magical beings now called demons, who were eventually forced to make way for the new race of Man. Before the last elder demon was forced to leave Earth, he fed off a human, and mixed his blood with the victim. This left the human in an undead, demonic state, and she found that she could share her condition with others by sharing the blood. Thus, the plague of vampirism spread across the Earth.
Thus, vampirism in the Buffyverse is technically a low-level form of demonic possession. The vampire must not only drain its victim, but feed him some of its own blood at the moment of death. The victim's soul goes on to whatever afterlife awaits it, and the victim's corpse reanimates as a vampire. He retains his mind and memories (and thus, identifies himself AS that person) but the animating force is a demonic spirit, bent on drinking blood and working evil.
This conception is consistent with the old Dracula novel, and with most of the old horror movies, but not with more recent media (ranging from the Dark Shadows soap opera to the VAMPIRE RPG) that depict vampires as tragic anti-heroes who can still choose to do good despite their evil nature. It also isn't consistent with the way Spike was depicted in later seasons, as he was capable of protecting Buffy and her sister Dawn even though he didn't have a human soul. In any case, being soulless doesn't prevent a given vampire from having a distinct personality.
Personality/Motivation: When a new vamp first rises, he is dominated by his monstrous nature. Most vampires quickly remember their old human personalities, but their lack of human soul causes them to become callous and hostile toward humanity. As such, even though they can pose as humans, vampires normally do not do so (except to lure victims for feeding) and prefer to mix only with their own kind, as opposed to living among mortals in a "masquerade" or running their affairs behind the scenes.
Quote: "RRARH!" [stake] "Uhn?" [FWOOOSH!]
Powers: There are several differences between 'Buffyverse' vampires and vampires in other settings. Most of them (except Dracula, of course) don't have the extensive magical powers vamps have in role-playing games and Universal Pictures. Most of them are basically superstrong thugs, and are treated as such. As undead, vampires do not age, and do not need to breathe. Their bodies are tough enough to shrug off most wide-tissue damage (one reason Slayers rarely use guns) and any damage they do take regenerates over a factor of hours. Any damage that would have otherwise killed the character (i.e. a Disabling wound in HERO terms) instead heals over a factor of days or weeks, as when Spike was crippled in Season 2. Only traditional vampire banes - death by fire, sunlight, decapitation, staking, etc. - will destroy a vampire permanently.
On the other hand, a vampire's immunity to impact damage doesn't apply to energy attacks, so tasers (for instance) are effective against them. Vampires can eat human food, although most choose not to since only blood can nourish them. In keeping with 5th Edition policy, the need for blood is merely an alternate diet, thus the vampire doesn't get the Dependence Disadvantage, nor does it buy Life Support: Diminished Eating. Vampires can become intoxicated (as Spike has demonstrated more than once) and can be affected by some poisons. As in some legends, vampires do not reflect in mirrors, and are mystically barred from entering a private home unless a resident invites them in. Once a vamp has been invited in, it can come and go in the house as it pleases (When Angel turned bad, Giles invented a spell to 'disinvite' such vampires; this should be treated as a Cosmetic Transform on the doorways of the home if it needs to be written up at all).
Sunlight is the surest bane against vampires, and most vampires exposed to the sun will disintegrate in seconds. 'Name' vampires like Angel and Spike can buy down their Susceptibility Time Chart to reflect their ability to shield themselves with an overcoat and run between buildings fast enough to avoid the sunlight. Generally, the most effective way to slay a vampire is to stake it, requiring a Called Shot to Hit Location 10 (-3 OCV), doing enough damage after modifiers to cause a Disabling wound. Decapitation is just as effective, but harder to pull off (-8 OCV). Optionally, 'mook' vamps can be dispatched with an Impairing wound (doing only half the vampire's BODY) if the monster fails a CON Roll. For some reason, vampires seem especially vulnerable to wooden weapons, and in the show they have even been dispatched with tree branches and aimed pencils. Also, in the TV shows, vampires who are staked, exposed to sunlight or otherwise permanently slain - i.e. brought to 0 BODY - disintegrate immediately without even a chance to bleed to death (thus the verb 'dusting', 'to dust', 'dusted'). This isn't consistent with most vampire stories, nor is it consistent with Paul Reubens' death scene in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie...
NOTE: The stats above are written over a 'template' of a Noteworthy Normal from the 5th Edition Rulebook p. 224; thus another character Transformed into a vamp will get +10 STR, +5 DEX, etc. As monsters, vampires have no Normal Characteristic Maxima, but rarely exceed 30 in any stat.
Appearance: Since a vampire is basically a corpse animated by a demonic spirit, its true form is the twisted appearance of the original human, with sloping brows, feral eyes, and jagged fangs. Most vamps can resume their human appearance at will, although they are still pale, and simple medical tests (like checking for a pulse) will reveal that they are technically dead. Amongst their own kind, vampires usually stay in demonic visage, using the human disguise to interact with mortals and to prey upon them. Once a vampire has the advantage on a target, it will revert to "game face" in order to feed (an act which will shock most people who see it for the first time).
Note that some vampires (like The Master) are so ancient and filled with demonic power that they can no longer assume a human appearance - in which case, the "game face" power should be eliminated and substituted with the straight bonus to PRE, along with appropriate Distinctive Features. In a few of these cases, the demonic nature is so pronounced that the elder vampire gains other bestial features, such as horns or hooves.
[characters created by Joss Whedon, write-up by James Gillen]
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