Van Richten's Monster Hunter's.pdf - Askadesign.com

How much worse is a vampire who,
in life, was a highly skilled warrior! The
weapon skills learned by an experi-
enced fighter or avenger are frequently
retained when the creature becomes
undead, including specialty training.
A vampire wielding a two-handed
sword or a heavy crossbow can be a
daunting sight. Nonetheless, it is better
to face an armed vampire than an
unarmed one because the creature can
drain life energy only when it strikes a
foe with a bare hand. Thus, while a
two-handed sword in the hands of a
vampire can cause hideous damage,
there is not the associated risk that
anyone killed by the attack will rise
later as a vampire.
Many vampires also remember skills
they learned while alive that are not
directly related to the profession they
followed. These skills may relate to
their childhood environment or to
hobbies they took up at a later date.
The main impediment most mortals
find in learning new skills is time. For
an immortal vampire, time is hardly an
issue. Thus, should it strike the
creature's fancy, a vampire could gain
proficiency in a huge number of skills
over tlie years. This is aided by the
fact that the monster's enhanced
intelligence eases the process of
learning new skills. Such ease with the
acquisition of noncombat enhances the
assumption of a facade. It is also an
almost certain bet that the creatures
can turn even the most harmless-
seeming skill into a weapon against
their foes.