What is the strength of the vampire?
All Things Vampire…Strengths and Weaknesses
Vampires have held our fascination for hundreds of years. They have gone from something people believed were real, to a fictional creature to fear in the night, to lost souls, to lovers.
To celebrate the opening of submissions for Triskaidekaphilia 2: Ravenous, Pen and Kink Publishing is hosting a series on vampires to get you in the mood.
This week, Errin Krystal looks at strengths and weaknesses of traditional vampires.
Vampires have long held a presences in mythology and these days in pop culture. I myself have had a fascination with these paranormal creatures of the night ever since I first saw the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film when I was seven-years old. Their powers and weaknesses have always held a particular interest, and are certain aspects of vampire lore that have remained part of the mythos forever.
Vampiric Strengths/Powers
Preternatural Senses: At their core, Vampires are predators above anything else. Whatever else they may be, darkly brooding love interest and the like, Vampires are the perfect hunter. Lightning speed, supernatural strength and agility, night vision, heightened hearing and smell. I mean, what chance could anyone possibly have over a creature that can hear the blood rushing through your veins, or the steady beat of your heart? Against a hunter who could be at your side in seconds, who could snap a neck between their fingertips before you could even blink?
Beauty: Yes, I am going to claim this as a strength/power. Like I said, Vampires are the ultimate predator, and let’s face it, vampires are often described as being beautiful. I have even seen it mentioned before where a person who is Turned actually becomes more beautiful, taking on an unearthly quality, their features altering slightly.
Hypnotic Abilities: Say you are actually able to resist the seductive allure of a stunningly sexy and dangerous paranormal being (good luck with that!). The Vampire also has hypnotic powers, they can mesmerise, draw you under their spell, and seduce you until they are all you see. Of course you are going to offer your throat up for a tasty snack. Unless that vampire takes a liking to you and keeps you under their thrall, making you a willing slave to their every whim.
Shapeshifting: I think this has to be my favourite. I think one of the reasons I love Vampires so much is that they certainly have a range of powers and abilities. And who doesn’t love a shapeshifter? Bats, wolves even shifting into a misty vapour are all within the Vampires repertoire. I mean, who is going to be suspicious of fog? Or think anything of that bat hanging in the tree outside your window. Ok, so a wolf lurking about is less inconspicuous than the previous two forms, but still, it could well be a Vampire stalking out his next victim and you would never know.
Vampiric Weakness
Daylight: Vampires are creatures of darkness, night dwellers, they do not wander about in the daylight. A Vampire walking about in the middle of the day? They would burst into flame. They belong in the shadows, shrouded in moonlight. I have seen a few decent examples of daylighters that actually work, but there is usually more involved than magic rings or ‘because they can’. Vampires are at their weakest during daylight hours, their powers severely diminished.
Religion: Vampires are often referred to as being damned or soulless, so religious artifacts can be used against them. Crucifixes and holy water will burn a Vampire, and cause excruciating pain. And while Vampire are able to enter public building, they cannot set foot on holy ground. It’s a strangle kind of irony that beings who have almost godlike powers, are brought low by blessed items.
Invitation Only: Technically a weakness yes, but as mentioned above, with their beauty and powers of compulsion, I think this is simple enough to get around. Vampires, after all, can enter public buildings, so it hardly matters they cannot just waltz into your house.
Silver: Traditionally also used to kill Werewolves, Vampires are also known to have an aversion to silver and depending on how it is used, can prove fatal.
Vampiric Death
Stake: The good old wooden stake through the heart. Classic. Find their resting place in daylight hours and dust!
Fire: This here is a great reason for Vampires to never venture out of doors in the daytime. Fire will reduce your Vampire to cinders.
Beheading: Once again, there’s just no coming back from this. Dust.
I am undecided whether the lack of reflection is a strength, weakness or just a general quirk of vampirism, but the one that always struck me as odd was the aversion to garlic? Thoughts?
Errin Krystal is a fantasy romance writer who has been writing since she was a small child. Her head has always been full of stories. She began work on her first novel when she was sixteen.
She lives with her family in regional Victoria, Australia, and works as a chef. In her quieter moments, she loves to indulge her passion for storytelling, basking in the joy that comes from creating vibrant characters, fantastical worlds and all manner of magical creatures. Dragons and elves, mages and warriors, troubled princes and beautiful princesses, romance, magic, and adventure can all be found in her writing.
Her first book, The Wild Realms of Véneanár: Book 1 – The Last Dragon Rider has just been contracted by The Wild Rose Press.
8 Comments
Stephanie on June 23, 2018 at 3:35 am
I am working on a book of my own that i had started years ago and just kind of stopped. Now that I have a little more insight on vampires it will greatly help me with my book. So for that I thank you. Reply
What is the strength of the vampire?
2016 年 8 月 31 日 上午 8:31
Potency- worth it?
Okay, here is the deal. As I understand it, Potency operates like extra Strength. When you use the Discipline, your Strength shoots up by however many points you invested in Potency. Unfortunately, that may well make this the worst power in the game. Why? Because, as far as I can tell, there is an absolute Strength limit of 5, which you cannot get passed. Right off the bat, that tells me that, since you have a minimum 1 already invested in Strength, Potency 5 is a guaranteed waste of points.
Speaking of which. there is Blood Buff, a Discipline that you automatically get which temporarily boosts by 2 all your physical attributes, including Strength. That means that your Strength can easily be boosted to 3; that also means that it is again a complete waste to spend any points in Potency past 2 at most.
Now, yes, there are downsides to doing it this way, such as spending two Blood Points instead of just one. For one thing, you can’t use Disciplines in Elysiums, but that won’t matter since there are no fights in Elysiums. There is also the added blood cost, but you should be able to deal with that. Besides, if you’d still prefer to spend only one point, Blood Buffalo is better, since you also get Stamina & Dexterity in the deal. Just make sure to max those attributes out at 3 to avoid wasting XP.
The last issue is the «special» damage that the Potency description hints at; I can’t tell if it exists or not. Besides, I’ve never seen enemies heal, so it doesn’t matter whether or not the damage is normal or aggravated, right? As such, I gotta believe that Potency is a waste as a power. Any arguments?
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2016 年 8 月 31 日 下午 5:17
I don’t remember there being an absolute strength limit?
That said, potency isn’t as good as some other disciplines imo. I consider the best combat discipline to be celerity by a long shot.
2016 年 9 月 1 日 上午 11:49
If i remember correctly the special damage provided by potence are unblockable. I am not sure but I think some of it can bypass fortitude.
2016 年 9 月 4 日 上午 8:20
There is no limit on attribute values if you push them up with disciplines. If you push your melee and strength to five with experience then add potence level five your melee combat feat will be at 15. In damage terms that’s a difference of 30 to 50-60.
Aggravated damage is much more difficult to resist for all creatures, regardless of no healing. The player can get around 11 bashing resistance (soak), 4 lethal, and one aggravated resistence without special disciplines (just Exp and items), this is likely a good guideline to all creatures, meaning it is fairly rare to find a creature that has substantial resistance to aggravated damage and that resistance will almost always be lower than for the other two types of damage, therefore aggravated will generally cause better damage than other types of damage.
Disciplines let characters breaks the rules, not reach the limits faster.
Physical Feats
Physical Feats in WoDG have been streamlined so that all venues use the same dice pools for the same rolls. Please note that also some feats have detailed examples of degrees of difficulty to reduce confusion among community members. In those cases, please use the difficulties supplied in this section of the World of Darkness: Gotham Wiki. Further, some Secondary Abilities have been suggested as alternatives to some systems as they might be applicable in some circumstances. However understand that Secondary Abilities have limited use.
For example, for Driving systems it may be applicable to use Pilot if your character is flying a helicopter and not actually driving a car. However, if your character is driving a car then you would not use Pilot you would roll Drive as usual.
Contents
- 1 Physical Feats Descriptions
- 1.1 Climbing
- 1.2 Driving
- 1.3 Encumbrance
- 1.4 Hunting (Vampire)
- 1.5 Intrusion
- 1.6 Jumping
- 1.7 Lifting and Breaking
- 1.8 Long Running (Werewolf)
- 1.9 Opening and Closing
- 1.10 Pursuit
- 1.11 Shadowing
- 1.12 Sleight of Hand
- 1.13 Sneaking
- 1.14 Stealing
- 1.15 Swimming
- 1.16 Throwing
Physical Feats Descriptions
Climbing
Dexterity + Athletics Difficulty 6. Movement rate = 10 feet climbed per success for a standard climb. Easy climbs = 15 feet climbed per success. Difficult climbs = 5 feet climbed per success. More difficult climbs may also incur a Difficulty penalty as well as the movement penalty. Devices, claws, and other aids may reduce the difficulty of a climb by 2. Possible Secondary Abilities: Climbing, Acrobatics.
Driving
Dexterity/Wits + Drive. No roll to drive is required under normal circumstances if the character has at least one dot in the Drive ability. However in adverse conditions a roll is required and the Difficulty is based on the severity of those conditions. Additionally, different vehicles handle with different characteristics no matter how skilled the driver. Therefore, no driver may have more dice in their drive dice pool than the maneuver rating for the vehicle being driven. Please refer to the chart below. Also, a general rule of thumb when calculating difficulty is that for every 10 mph over the safe speed for a vehicle, the difficulty for the drive roll is increased by 1. Adding in adverse weather and traffic conditions will increase difficulty as will trying to evade pursuit or to pursue. Possible Secondary Abilities: Pilot, Ride, Helmsman, Boat Handling.
Encumbrance
Strength. For every point in Strength a character may carry 25 pounds without penalty. Every additional 25 pounds over the limit incurs a +1 difficulty to all physical actions and halves the character’s base movement. A character bearing a load double the capacity of her Strength rating cannot move. Potence adds to a character’s effective Strength rating.
Driving Chart Vehicle Safe Speed Max Speed Maneuver 6-wheel truck 60 90 3 Tank (modern) 60 100 4 Tank (WWII) 30 40 3 Bus 60 100 3 18-Wheeler 70 110 4 Sedan 70 120 5 Minivan 70 120 5 Compact 70 130 6 Sporty Compact 100 140 7 Sport Coupe 110 150 8 Sports Car 110 160 8 Exotic Car 130 190+ 9 Luxury Sedan 85 155 7 Midsize 75 125 6 SUV 70 115 5 Formula One Racer 140 240 10 Strength Chart Strength Feats Lift 1 Crush a beer can 40 lbs. 2 Break a wooden chair 100 lbs. 3 Break down a wooden door 250 lbs. 4 Break a 2’x4′ board 400 lbs. 5 Break open a metal fire door 650 lbs. 6 Throw a motorcycle 800 lbs. 7 Flip over a small car 900 lbs. 8 Break a 3′ lead pipe 1000 lbs. 9 Punch through a cement wall 1220 lbs. 10 Rip open a steel drum 1500 lbs. 11 Punch through 1″ sheet metal 2000 lbs. 12 Break a metal lamp post 3000 lbs. 13 Throw a station wagon 4000 lbs. 14 Throw a van 5000 lbs. 15 Throw a truck 6000 lbs. Hunting (Vampire)
Perception. Difficulty is based on the area in which the vampire is hunting. See Vampire Hunting and Feeding for specifics on hunting in WoDG.
Intrusion
Dexterity + Security for mechanical locks. Intelligence + Security to bypass electronic alarm systems. Skill rating 1 allows a character to bypass simple locks like house locks and standard car locks. Skill rating 2 allows a character to bypass a keypad or crack a safe. Difficulty varies from 4-10 depending on the complexity of the target. Possible Secondary Abilities: Lockpicking
Setting up a single security measure on a specific target (like a door or window) requires an Intelligence + Security roll Difficulty of 6. A single success creates a measure of 4 Difficulty to bypass. Each success thereafter increases the difficulty to bypass the measure by 1. Setting up an elaborate security system over an entire haven, home, laboratory, etc. is more involved and will also require appropriate Technology rolls for device construction and system design. Difficulties and thresholds will be assigned by a ST according to the complexity of the security system being designed. Possible Secondary Abilities: Traps, Engineering, Electronics, Jury-Rig, Hypertech
Jumping
Strength or Strength + Athletics for a running jump Difficulty 3. Each success on a standing jump propels a character 2 feet up or 4 feet horizontally. Number of successes needed = to the distance needed to be cleared. On a failure, the character may roll Dexterity + Athletics (Difficulty 6) to break a fall or grab a surface to prevent falling. Perception + Athletics roll (Difficulty 6) allows a player character to judge the distance of a jump and estimate the number of successes needed to complete the task. Possible Secondary Abilities: Acrobatics
Lifting and Breaking
The strength chart provides the minimum Strength needed to deadlift or break various weights without a roll. Characters of lower Strength may roll to affect heavier weights. The roll is made not with Strength, but with Willpower, and is difficulty 9. Each success advances the character by one level on the chart. Potence adds to the character’s effective Strength.
Long Running (Werewolf)
Lupus form only. Can run a number of hours = to Stamina. Stamina + Athletics (Difficulty 4) to maintain 16 mph running speed for each hour after that.
Opening and Closing
Strength. Difficulty 6 or 8 depending on the material of the door. The number of successes required depends on the material of the door. The roll is extended and teamwork can be used. Some doors require a certain amount of Strength just to make the attempt. Potence adds to the characters effective Strength rating.
Pursuit
Dexterity + Athletics/Drive. For running pursuits check movement rate first. If the movement rates are vastly different, then no roll is needed. The faster character will eventually overtake the slower one. If the characters are equal or nearly equal to each other in movement, then roll Dexterity + Athletics in a contested roll. Target starts with a number of free successes = to the number of yards from pursuer Xs 2. Vampires do not tire. Mortals and mages tire after 5 minutes per point of Stamina if running at breakneck speed. Garou tire at the rate of 7 minutes per point of Stamina in their current form except for Lupus form where Long Running rules apply. When the pursuer’s successes overtake the amount of successes the quarry has, the chase is over. Perception roll may be called to catch sight of the quarry the difficulty is +1 for every success over the first in distance the quarry is to the pursuer. Extra actions gained from Celerity, Rage, and Time increase movement rate and give the character a number of extra rolls appropriate to the number of extra actions the character has. For driving pursuits, the same system applies except Drive is used in place of Athletics and extra actions from Celerity, Rage, and Time do not apply if neither character involved in the chase is on foot. Possible Secondary Abilities: Pilot, Boat Handling, Helmsman, Ride.
Shadowing
Dexterity + Stealth/Drive vs resisted Perception + Alertness roll Difficulty 6. The difficulty can be adjusted for conditions. For example, a crowded street is easier to shadow a target than an empty street. Two or more shadowers can combine successes to follow a target. Using tracking devices, satellites and other high tech devices might make the shadowing automatic or allow only an especially wary or paranoid target an Intelligence + Alertness roll Difficulty 9 to notice a shadower that keeps showing up nearby. The target must at least score one more success than the shadower to spot the tail and act accordingly. Special supernatural traits and powers will naturally modify a shadower’s difficulty or dice pool. For example, Arcane reduces the dice pool to spot the shadower by one per dot. Possible Secondary Abilities: Camouflage, Disguise, Tracking.
Sleight of Hand
Dexterity + Stealth vs Perception + Alertness Difficulty 6. This system is used for everything from picking pockets to placing a bug on someone or something. The Difficulty of such an action is adjusted based on how complex the action is or in the case of theft, the size of the object being stolen. Failure indicates that the rogue was not successful while a botch indicates that he was caught in the act. Special supernatural traits and powers will naturally modify a rogue’s difficulty or dice pool. Possible Secondary Abilities: Sleight of Hand, Pickpocketing.
Sneaking
Dexterity + Stealth vs Perception + Alertness Difficulty 6 in a resisted roll. The difficulty can be adjusted up or down depending on conditions. Special supernatural traits and powers will naturally modify the sneaking character’s difficulty or dice pool. Some powers may eliminate any need to roll at all. Arcane gives one automatic success one per dot. Possible Secondary Abilities: Camouflage, Disguise.
Stealing
Dexterity + Stealth vs Perception + Alertness Difficulty 6 in a resisted roll. Perception + Streetwise Difficulty 8 is used to case the area and determine the difficulty of the task. Difficulties are adjusted based on the conditions and size of the object(s) being stolen. Bulky clothing may reduce difficulty by 2 while good lighting and alerted witnesses may increase it. A failure indicates that the theft was unsuccessful while a botch indicates that the thief was caught in the act. Special supernatural traits and powers will naturally modify a thief’s difficulty or dice pool.
Swimming
Stamina + Athletics. Any character with one or more dots in Athletics knows how to swim. Distance and duration to stay afloat is rolled vs a Difficulty that reflects the water conditions. Swimming in a pool is difficulty 4 while swimming in the sea during a storm in icy conditions might be a 10. One roll is made per hour to remain afloat while distance swimming is rolled every 15 minutes. Failure indicates that the character flounders while a botch indicates that the character sinks and starts taking suffocation damage if they are not Kindred. Vampires caught underwater during the day are assumed to have the same cover from sunlight as cloud cover. Possible Secondary Abilities: Swimming, Scuba.
Throwing
Dexterity + Athletics to throw an object at a target Difficulty (6 at up to half the maximum range of the object or 7 for more than half to maximum range of the object). An object weighing 3 pounds or less can be thrown Strength X 5 yards. Each additional 2 pounds decreases the distance by 5 yards. If an object can be lifted, but not thrown it can only be hurled a yard or two. This can be adjusted based on the Feats of Strength Chart above. Just throwing an object requires no roll. Trying to throw an object at a target, does.
