Liber Vampyr

additional -2 (to a maximum penalty of -8 for starving feral
vampires).
Intimidate
Instead of using Diplomacy to convince a character
to allow him to feed on her, a vampire can attempt to use
Intimidate to cow the living into serving as cattle, instead.
This functions identically to using Diplomacy to convince
a character to allow you to feed on her, with the following
exceptions.
For the purposes of this check, the DC is calculated
somewhat differently. First, the base DC of the Intimidate
check depends on the relative power of the vampire and the
character, and not on how the character actually feels about
the vampire. Additionally, the target’s Wisdom modifier,
rather than Charisma modifier, determines their ability to
resist the attempt at persuasion. The DC of the Intimidate
check to convince a creature to allow a vampire to feed on
them is equal to the base DC based on the difference in
power between the vampire and the target + the modifier
for requesting to feed on the character (typically +20) + the
character’s Wisdom modifier. In order to determine the base
DC based on the difference in power between the vampire
and the target, see Table 2-2: Feeding Intimidate DCs.
Table 2‐2: Feeding Intimidate DCs
Vampire is…
Base DC
…4 or more CRs below the target 25
…1‐3 CRs below the target 20
…the same CR as the target 15
…1‐3 CRs above the target 10
…4 or more CRs above the target 0
Additionally, characters that are persuaded in this
fashion will generally allow the vampire to inflict an amount
of Constitution damage equal to 3/4 her Constitution score
before she attempts to end the feeding forcibly. Because the
experience of being fed on under duress is traumatic, the DC
is not reduced to feed on the same character more than once.
In general, characters with Constitution damage in excess of
half their Constitution score cannot be convinced to be fed
on in this fashion, regardless of the result of the Intimidate
check.
Knowledge
Vampires are popular figures in fantasy folklore,
the same as they are in real life, and tales of night-stalking
blood drinkers are popular even in regions where there
are no vampires to be found for miles. For that reason,
vampires are more well-known than many other monsters,
and information about them is more a matter of common
knowledge. For the same reason, however, common
knowledge is glutted with as much false information about
vampires—perhaps even more—as there is truth. The
following section can be used to determine what a given
character knows—or thinks he knows—about vampires.
Knowledge about Revenants: Characters with
ranks in Knowledge (Religion) can research revenants
to learn more about them. When a character makes a
skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including
the information from lower DCs. At the GM’s discretion,
characters can also research vampires with a Knowledge
(local) check, though in such cases, the DCs are all increased
by +5.
DC 10: Revenants are a type of vampire, and require the
blood of the living in order to extend their immortal
existence. Characters that achieve a result of less than 10 are
not familiar with revenants at all.
DC 15: Many revenants claim to be more in touch with their
humanity than other forms of undead. In many ways, they
resemble living creatures, and their weakness to sunlight is
far less than that of the average vampire.
DC 20: Revenants are natural masters of a strange and
unusual form of blood magic known as cruomancy, and can
use the blood that they drain from their victims to achieve a
wide variety of strange and powerful effects.
DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can
learn important details about a specific notable revenant,
the areas where she operates, and the kinds of activities she
undertakes.
Misinformation about Revenants: Whenever
a character makes a Knowledge (Religion) check to learn
more about revenants, the GM may choose to make a secret
Wisdom check (DC 5) on behalf of the character. If he fails
this check, he learns a piece of misinformation, along with
any other information he might gain. Because this can
result in gaining only misinformation, if the result of the
character’s Knowledge check is low enough, it is advised that
GMs interested in using this option also make the character’s
initial Knowledge roll in secret, as well, to make it more
difficult to distinguish correct information from falsehoods.
Whenever a character gains a piece of
misinformation about revenants, roll 1d6 and consult the
following list of potential pieces of misinformation to
determine what he or she “learns.” Alternatively, pick a piece
of misinformation that you particularly like, or make up one
of your own.
1. Though they are called “vampires,” revenants are
actually not undead. Their blood drinking is entirely
voluntary, and used to power their strange and
perverse rituals.
2. A revenant is actually a corpse that has been
possessed by the essence of a fiend. While they look
and sound like the person that they were in life,
and even possess that person’s memories, they are
actually an entirely separate evil entity.
3. Revenants are not vampires at all. They are the
resurrected forms of ancient heroes, who can be
called upon in times of great need. These “holy
undead” are even healed by positive energy. The
confusion arises because awakening a revenant
requires a small portion of blood from one of his or
her descendants.
4. Revenants have all of the powers of the normal
vampire, but none of their weaknesses. Revenants
have been known to ignore garlic, holy symbols,
mirrors, running water, and more, and are
completely unaffected by the sun.
5. Revenants are victims of a plague, which is
transmitted by biting. Those who die from it rise
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