Vampire adventure design ideas

[Gilladian]

I'm thinking it would be fun to design a vampire adventure to dangle for my players. This is a 3.5 game, set in a large fantasy city (Ptolus). I haven't designed and run a vampire scenario in probably 10 years... so I'd like some ideas and suggestions.

What would a vampire do who lived in a city to keep a low profile?

What would his minions be like?

What defenses would he set up around his home?

What clues (beyond the obvious "people are disappearing") could cause the party to smoke him/her out?

Anybody have a good NPC vampire statted out? Want to tell about the great vampire adventure you went on/ran for your group?

Anything is welcome; I'm still just toying with ideas, here. Even modules/adventures that use a vampire would be good for ideas.

 

[jaerdaph]

I would make the vampire a person of minor authority like a constable on the night watch. Not that he (or she) needs the job for the financial compensation, but for the access it gives him to people, places and events to help him cover up his existence and manipulate these to protect himself. Just enough power in the city to get done what needs to be done, but not attract too much attention to himself (like if he were the mayor, for instance).

I got this idea from the BBC America TV series Being Human. There was a vampire on the show named Herrick who was a municipal police sergeant, and this is exactly what he was doing. I was really impressed with the idea so I filed it away for later, so here it is.

In this case, it would be a lot easier to accomplish in a pseudo-medieval fantasy city than it was for Harrick in modern day Bristol.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Well, one advantage a vampire has in the city is the nightlife, and he, in keeping with the sophisticated and 'cool' reputation vampires have, would probably belong to (or have founded) some kind of social club where he never lets the vampire side show. With lots of important people in the club, he would not want to show his real self and the party thus has a weakness to exploit.

As for business, I like the idea of being a night patrolman, but for more evil, have him be the benefactor of some kind of poorhouse, not running it, but contributing funds and such to it. It would fit with his club above, and give him access to people who wold not be missed very quickly. Plus it is just more evil and he players would feel better getting rid of him.

Whatever you do, be sure to stay away from Twilight. Totally, absolutely away from Twilight. IMHO

 

[jaerdaph]

Whatever you do, be sure to stay away from Twilight. Totally, absolutely away from Twilight. IMHO

Quoted for truth. That way lies madness and ruin....

 

[jaerdaph]

I was thinking about what kind of minions - mortals charmed or paid to protect the vampire's interests, especially during daylight hours.

You need at least one "heavy lifter" - a rogue or lowlife drifter to do the dirty work. An example would be Willie Loomis from Dark Shadows.

Mortal family members make for great minions too. Perhaps they do so out of a sense of loyalty, or perhaps they have been charmed or are otherwise fearful of their ancestor. They provide a cover story, access to funds, refuge etc. Their "visiting nephew" is actually their great great uncle.

If the vampire was a member of the watch, he could have his partners charmed, perhaps even the watch captain.

If he owned some sort of night life social club, he'd have charmed body guards with him at all times and key employees would also be under his spell.

Of course, depending on how many vampires can actually exist undetected in this urban environment, some of these roles could be the responsibilities of his vampiric progeny. If the population size can stand more than one or two vampires, perhaps he doesn't kill all of his victims and instead turns some of them.

 

[Herobizkit]

If you can sniff it out, Vampire: The Masquerade is an excellent source of vampiric intrigue. The sourcebook divides Vampires into Clans, wherein each clan gets a collection of powers suited to their type. You could easily milk this info for clans of, say, Fighter vampires, Ranger vampires, Mage vampires, and so on.

 

[Gilladian]

Here's what I've jotted down so far this afternoon, amongst other things:
Ladia Fanchon: human (vampire) female fighter 5/ cleric 3

This woman is a sergeant of the watch in Midtown, and has voluntarily taken the evening shift for the past 5 years. She is a widow, and has no children. She's known for her sensible, practical, kindly way of dealing with criminals, children and miscreant adventurers alike.

However, she guards a terrible secret. Five years ago, she and her husband, who were both watchmembers, were ambushed by a vampire passing through Ptolus. They were both slain, but Ladia's husband merely died. She rose. In the five years following, she has tried to do no great evil, but she was never a particularly good person, and has become accustomed to seeing her "disposal" of unwanted victims as a "good thing" for the city.

She had, before her conversion, sometimes done some work at a small orphanage near her home. But since her conversion, she has done much more there. She made the discovery that the mistress of the orphanage had begun to worship at a minor chaos cult, and was offering up the children as converts.

Already being corrupted, and needing a steady supply of victims, Ladia has co-opted the chaos cult. She has stepped into the role of priestess, and gained several clerical levels. She's turned the orphanage mistress into her personal follower - not a vampire spawn, although she has several, but a charmed dependent who obeys her every command.

Various followers:

The orphanage headmistress (charmed human)

Her watch captain (charmed human)

The orphanage "senior orphan" - spawn? (Too bad DnD vampires can't create ghouls - it would be the perfect type of follower in this situation).

A ruffian (charmed half-orc) acts as her muscle during the day.

A couple of spawn who guard her lairs. She has two major lairs - one in the apartment which is her apparent home, and one in the basement of the orphanage, where she spends the bulk of her time. I think these locales will be connected via the sewers. She can certainly move through drains via gaseous form easily enough.

She will also have a small chaos cult temple connected to the orphanage - again, via the sewers, and a dozen or so loyal followers there who know nothing about her vampirism.

And of course, the vampire who "turned" her is still out there somewhere. Who was he? Where did he go? Does he know or care about Ladia?

 

[Mark1733]

I liked the 2nd Blade movie concept where there were vampires and then there were really bad vampires and the typical vampires needed help destroying the really bad vampires. The really bad vampires had some nasty virus that was turning them into horrid, ultra-violent supervampires...kinda like Blade meets 28 Days (with the rage disease). Maybe the vamp is known to be a vamp...maybe he protects the town by feeding off the nearby nasty races where he is a scary legend. However, what happens when some of those "leftovers" become their own vampires in some way...mutated into their own form and seek revenge on the town!!!

 

[howandwhy99]

quoting OP in bold
What would a vampire do who lived in a city to keep a low profile?
I'd say he would either be rich and reclusive or hold a job that required night shifts. ...and was reclusive. Depending on the rules of vampirism you're using, he'll need some regular source of blood or the knowledge that something is sucking blood and killing people will be known throughout the city. He could be the ruler of the city and demand slaves every so often. Or he could keep the sewer rat population under control. It depends on where you want to go with this.

What would his minions be like?
Well, he or she doesn't necessarily need minions, but I would think a someone who could go out in daylight would be a high priority. Charming people works best, but this means they are seen by those people. Traditionally a vampire can also summon creatures like bats, rats, and wolves depending on where they are when they do so.

Vampire created by another vampire are also supposed to be under their influence. Domination, in effect.

What defenses would he set up around his home?
Anything that a normal human would use to defend themselves save for some peculiar items not allowed on the premises. For instance, no garlic, mirrors, holy symbols, or holy water. Magic weapons are probably at best hidden away and not given to charmed defenders.

What clues (beyond the obvious "people are disappearing") could cause the party to smoke him/her out?
Well, vampires have some rather well known behaviors they follow in order to stay alive. The above defenses for one may tip them off. "Smoking him or her out" sounds more like a siege. Clues for what a vampire is are probably almost always going to come from behavior. For instance, knowing a great deal of history, having great wealth, being reclusive, not knowing their own strength, arriving between different locations mysteriously fast, an affinity for certain creatures of the night, perhaps a sense of fearlessness towards heights and other dangers.

Anybody have a good NPC vampire statted out? Want to tell about the great vampire adventure you went on/ran for your group?
You must know Ravenloft, which received an "Expedition to" 3.5 treatment. I'm betting there were some in Dungeon Magazine.

 

[Dykstrav]

Here's an idea, one that combines the question of minions and a clue (besides people disappearing) that might "smoke out" the vampire.

Let's say your vampire is a reasonably smart critter. People might start noticing that they never attend services at a temple or always have to be home before sunrise (even if they work a night job). A peace officer might certainly be called before whatever judiciary body governs the city during the day, especially to testify at trials and the like.

How much does a hat of disguise cost? Can your vampire mentally dominate other creatures?

Your vampire might have several minions throughout the city that can use the hat of disguise to appear as the vampire, especially during the day. They could be mentally dominated, or if your vampire is a peace officer, low-rent thugs that they look the other way for in exchange for these services. Certainly, a member of the thieves guild or a street gang would love to impersonate a peace officer from time to time, so it's quite possible that they thug is not aware of their true nature. Maybe they even bribe the peace officer for taking part in "their" scheme.

Your characters could become wise to such a scheme when the peace officer in question is seen in multiple locations in the city throughout the same night (or when they were with the vampire themselves) and they give evasive answers when questioned. Maybe the "internal affairs division" or the king's intelligence network suspects a traitor when the criminals always seem to be a step ahead.

All that being said, I'm not entirely sure that having the vampire be a member of the city watch or whatever is necessarily a great idea for the long-term of the campaign setting. it's an interesting idea, but consider the ramifications. I'd expect this thing to snowball ridiculously once the truth came out.

When the PCs discover a vampire working in an official position, the fallout would send ripples and even shockwaves throughout the city's administration and government. The entire hiring and review process for the watch would be scrutinized, people could lose their jobs for their lapse in awareness (or even be criminally charged themselves). I'd certainly expect the ruling body to mandate a top-down review of all official positions within the government to ferret out other possible influences like that. A given temple or faith could gain a prominent position by offering to investigate government agencies for undead infiltrators, quite possibly allowing them to gain other privileges in the city and edge out other temples and faiths. Every criminal trial for the past several years (and possibly even further back) would be called into question. People would lose faith in the government's ability to fairly perform criminal trials, possibly resulting in a net increase in crime.

It might be an interesting scenario, but I think it's bigger than a simple "hunt the vampire" adventure.