Fang and Fury - Guidebook to Vampires.pdf

Chapter One: The Vampire Scion
Chapter One:
The Vampire Scion
The standard rules for vampires specify that a new vampire is created
when a humanoid or monstrous humanoid with at least 5 HD is
killed by a vampire’s blood drain attack. For the purposes of this
book, new vampires are called “vampire scions” (often shortened to
“scions”) and are created in a different way.
Becoming a Vampire
The humanoid or monstrous humanoid must be killed by a vampire’s
blood drain attack, then fed blood (see Blood Gifts, below) by the
same vampire to restore it to 0 hit points. Humanoids and monstrous
humanoids killed by blood drain but not fed a blood gift arise 1d4
days later as vampire spawn.
A vampire scion’s first few days of unlife are dark ones. In a process
called the Change, the new vampire’s body passes through all the
stages of death: Limbs stiffen, skin becomes pale, and eyes lose
their color and shine. Finally the abdomen swells to grotesque size
as internal organs putrefy, shriveling again as they turn to liquid and
then rot away, leaving only a sluggishly beating heart and a labyrinth
of black veins. While the body decays, the vampire’s characteristic
fangs sprout from bloodless gums.
While going through this transformation, the vampire scion’s hit
points remain at 0. (This is an exception to the normal rule that
undead are destroyed on reaching 0 hit points.) He is unconscious
and his condition is stable, but he is completely unaffected by
curative spells (inflict spells in this case) or any other magical means
of restoring health. He cannot benefit from use of the Heal skill to
speed healing or halt the process, nor can he recover hit points from
rest.
No known spell, magic item, or supernatural ability can reverse this
change once it begins, though the vampire-to-be is vulnerable to
turning and rebuking attempts by clerics, and he can be killed by
all the traditional banes of vampires (sunlight, running water, and
stakes; see Vampire Vulnerabilities below). In addition, dispel evil
or remove curse cast on the body during this process slays the scion
immediately.
Only at the end of this period (1d4+1 days) does the scion awake.
He initially has 1d6 hit points and is weak and disoriented. This
condition resembles exhaustion (move at half normal speed,
effective decrease of –6 to Strength and Dexterity). After 1 hour of
inactivity, the scion is more in control of his new body but is still
afflicted by pain; this is similar to the fatigued condition (can’t run
or charge, effective decrease of –2 to Strength and Dexterity). The
new vampire can act normally after 8 hours of inactivity. At this
point the scion first experiences what will come to define his undead
existence—the terrible, overwhelming need for blood so strong it is
simply called “the Thirst.”
Races of Renown: Fang & Fury
GM’s Option: Different Rules for
Becoming a Vampire
Various real-world cultures and Hollywood movies treat vampirism
very differently. You can easily change the origins of vampires to
fit your campaign or simply to confuse your players. Here are some
examples of alternative ways to become a vampire in your game.
• A black cat (or other traditionally unlucky animal) steps over
an unburied body.
• A vampire feeds from a pregnant woman—the child is born a
vampire.
• A vampire feeds from the same person on three consecutive nights.
• A vampire kills someone by any means.
• A witch or wizard dies violently.
• Moonlight falls on an unburied body.
• A suicide rises as a vampire at the next full moon (the rag man
in Chapter Four: Prestige Classes is built on this traditional
origin story).
Additionally, the bite of a vampire could create other creatures under
different circumstances.
• A person killed by a vampire but not fully drained of blood
arises 1d4 days later as a zombie.
• A person drained completely by a vampire but not fed a blood
gift arises 1d4 days later as a ghoul.
• A living person fed a blood gift transforms into a vampire
spawn 1d4 days later. Alternatively, he becomes a blood
puppet (see Chapter Five: Creatures).
Metaphysics
All undead creatures depend on a connection to the Negative Energy
Plane for existence, but a vampire’s link to this plane is tenuous. Her
heart still “lives” in some occult sense, and this attachment to the
Material Plane weakens her hold on the negative energy of darkness
and the night. Each day at noon, this link to the dark plane reaches
its nadir, and the vampire scion is tormented by positive energy that
washes over her undead form like liquid fire, causing wounds that
can be repaired only with living blood—the Thirst.
The vampire straddles the planes of material reality and negative
energy, not fully a part of either but depending on both to survive.
This dual dependence is behind traditional vulnerabilities to sunlight,
running water, and a stake to the heart. Sunlight and running water
are conduits of positive energy, and contact with either breaks down
the vampire’s already weak attachment to the Negative Energy Plane,
allowing the rough forces of the material world to wear down her
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