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

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highwayman, robbing unguarded
travelers and merchant caravans with
relative impunity. Perhaps a “lone
adventurer” might join a party on a
treasure hunt, only to murder his
associates when the prize is achieved.
In a town or city the vampire might
indulge in mugging, or in breaking and
entering. In any case the creature’s
abilities would give it a massive
advantage over mere mortals. A
vampire might also hire itself out as a
lethal assassin.
One of the most interesting options
open to a vampire in need of starting
capital is also one of the most risky. It
is possible for a vampire to kill a
wealthy person-perhaps the owner of
a manor-and temporarily take that
person’s identity, thus playing a very
specific kind of facade. This would
usually involve a magical disguise of
some kind to handle the physical
resemblance, but the other facets of
the impersonation-voice, gestures,
movements, and so forth-would be
remarkably easy for a vampire to
create. The risk of detection would
remain relatively high unless the
vampire made sure to limit contacts
with the outside world, by claiming a
virulent illness, for example.
The impersonation need not last
long, of course. The vampire would
need only sufficient time to orchestrate
a convincing excuse for shipping away
some measure of the unfortunate
victim’s wealth, and then could make
its escape. With at least some portion
of the victim’s possessions converted
to untraceable form, the vampire could
vanish and resurface elsewhere with a
“nest egg” on which to build.
After a vampire has generated
starting capital, it can build that money
into a fortune, just as a mortal might
do. The vampire, however, has a major
advantage: time. The creature can
spend a “paltry” one hundred years
building a business empire, then
liquidate and get on with its real plans.
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