Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.gurps From: [soulie 1] at [uwindsor.ca] (Soulier Michael Patrick) Subject: GURPS Vampire Optional Changes Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 17:19:48 GMT I casually mentioned this a while back, and there was some interest, so here it is. I hated the way vampires were hamstrung in the GURPS Vampire book, so I changed it. Gurps Vampire: Optional Rule Changes Karla turned to William, whispering into his ear with the silken voice that always made him want her, "This one's mine darling." Karla's eyes never left the doomed young woman leaving the restaurant alone, pulling her coat close around her to protect her from the cool night air. William nodded as his desire for Karla welled up inside him. "Soon", he thought as he watched his lover so expertly glide through the crowded street, closing ever so slowly on her prey. Karla's patience never ceased to amaze William. As hungry as he knows she must be right now, he would never be able to take his time like Karla is right now. It's like it's a game to her, and it probably is, more than he would ever understand. The doomed girl looked about her, perhaps realizing the folly of travelling these streets alone, perhaps following some hidden or unrealized instinct telling her that she was now in the greatest danger of her young life. Whatever the reason, her instincts were not enough to protect her from the formidable hunting skills of the shadow trailing her through the crowd. William followed behind, trying to match the infinite patience of his lover as she closed the distance with her chosen prey. William scanned the crowd, wondering if one of these night travellers would be suitable for him, to keep his wait for his lover to a minimum. As wonderful as the feeding can be, nothing compared to how Karla made him feel. Karla closed within an arms reach of the girl, admiring her beautiful red hair, like fire, and her slender body. She could smell the girl now, and her hunger began to build to an intolerable level. Karla decided to wait for a time, purposely torturing herself to enhance the inevitable moment later, until she could wait no longer. She crossed the girl's left shoulder, far too close to go unnoticed, and the girl, already on edge from her screaming instincts, gasped and jumped to her right. She looked at Karla, and the vampire locked eyes with her, startled to see such a stunningly beautiful woman smiling so sweetly at her on a crowded street. "Perfect", thought Karla as she focussed her concentration on the doomed girl's eyes. She felt that familiar frame of mind, just as her sire taught her to do so many years ago. The girl's eyes went blank as Karla felt a surge of victory. She let the words glide from her mouth, "follow me", then turned away and walked on, confident that the girl would follow. William watched intently as Karla led the poor girl into an alleyway. "Wait, what's this...?", William thought as he considered a dark man in a long trenchcoat that seemed to be watching a little too closely as the woman and the girl disappeared down the alleyway. The man scanned around carefully, as William tried to remember what Karla had taught him about blending in with a crowd and hoped that the man wouldn't notice his attention. The man turned down the alleyway, apparently satisfied. William picked up his pace and headed for the alleyway. This man was probably a common rapist, chasing after two beautiful young women in search of tonight's thrill. William allowed a slight smile to crease his face. He had found his prey. For those GURPS Vampire players who wish to more closely model the original WW material, I created this set of rules as optional modifications to the original work by Jeff Koke. The point values were modeled after Supers, except for the increased strength offered by blood expenditures and by potence, because it wouldn't have worked if I had used the Supers increased Strength chart. Basically, just replace the existing vampire template with the one offered below, and change the discipline costs as described below. For those of you who have played the original game by White Wolf, you should notice how closely these rules model the original material. Karla turned down another alleyway leading behind the buildings on the street. She turned, locking eyes with the poor girl who had no idea why she was following this lovely stranger. Her gaze holding the girl immobile, Karla opened the girl's jacket. "What is she doing??", screamed the girl in her mind, unable to speak as she stared into those eyes which seemed to go on forever. "Why can't I move?? What's happening to me??" She couldn't even shiver as the woman's hands touched her throat, ice cold, like death itself, and moved down to her blouse where she began to unbutton it slowly. The woman pulled the girls collar down, exposing her neck fully, and leaned forward to brush her lips against the girl's lips, a delicate kiss that sent a thrilling sensation through the girl's body. The girl saw the slight protrusion of fangs from the woman's mouth just before the beauty lowered her head to the girl's throat, and only as those fangs pierced her flesh did she understand. All the fables and erotic stories of the past, mercifully dismissed as such, came into sharp clarity as reality came crashing down in a wave of ecstacy unlike she had ever dreamt of in mortal love. In the original material, disciplines did not cost the vampire anything to use, except for the protean powers of level 2 and up, and one blood point per turn for celerity. Celerity also offered extra actions, not just improved speed, as Rage does for Werewolves, and accelerated time does for Magi. The changes below model that. Also, more importantly, the vampire could spend her blood points for a raise in physical attributes that lasted the entire scene. The expenditure was not a one-shot deal that ended after use. It lasted to protect the vampire for the duration of the battle. So, I have also modeled that below, with some very hefty costs to the template for being able to use such a power. Fortunately, this was balanced by the increased danger of sunlight, which I altered to affect the vampire every two seconds, as opposed to every minute, considering that in the original material, vampires took damage from sunlight every three second game turn. William closed with the dark newcomer from behind, as he headed for the corner where his lover and her prey headed a minute before. William concentrated on the blood coursing through him, burning some of what he had left and increasing his strength in preparation for grappling with the man. William reached forward, wrapping his right hand around the man's chin, and his left be buried in the man's hair, preparing to break his neck. Seemingly out of nowhere, an elbow impacted William's chest, sending him roughly to the ground. The wind would have been knocked out of him from the force of the blow had he needed to breathe like a mortal. When a vampire spends blood to improve her physical attributes, the blood may be spent on ST, DX, or HT, at a rate of +2 to attributes per blood point spent. All skills based on these attributes rise temporarily as well, at the same rate. The increase lasts for the scene, but for a more GURPS feel, the GM may wish to have it last a fixed amount of time, like 1d minutes, for example. There is no limit to the amount that attributes may be raised by this method, besides of course, the vampire's available blood pool. Of course, the vampire may still only spend blood at a rate determined by their generation (see the optional generation table below). So if the vampire is 13th generation, and wishes to use Celerity, which requires 1 BP per turn of use, she can not spend blood on anything else, since she may only spend 1 BP per turn due to her generation. Blood points may not be used to raise skills alone, and since you may not raise IQ with these rules, mental skills may never be raised by this method. Healing is done as described in GURPS Vampire, but the blood point expenditures must still obey the generation limit. These rules will only help you if you are of low generation, or have time to prepare before a battle. Catching a vampire by surprise is still the best way to fight them. Note that blood may still be used to replenish a vampire's fatigue pool, or supplement a normal fatigue use, at a rate of 2 fatigue per blood point spent. The young kindred immediately got to his feet and bared his fangs at the enemy that he had just underestimated, and tried to paralize him with fear as he had been taught. But as a smile appeared on the man's face, and his trenchcoat tore from his increasing bulk, any thought of intimidation left the young vampire's mind. The man's face sprouted hair and elongated into a snout, with huge rows of teeth accenting the man's smile. His claws gleamed in the half-light of the alleyway, and the creature stared down at William with the look that he had seen himself when he was first embraced, only angrier, full of hate. Karla rounded the corner behind the creature and stopped cold, fear appearing in her eyes for the first time since William had met her. She instantly went for her jacket and the gun she kept there. The lupine turned, seemingly forgetting William and charging Karla with astounding speed. William's view of Karla disappeared as the lupine came down on her, the sound of Karla's gun resounding in the alley. William shook himself free of his fear-induced paralysis and charged forwards, burning his blood to power his inhuman speed that still was slower than the raging lupine. The lupine's claws flashed down and Karla's screams puncuated the night. William put more of his still dwindling blood supply into building himself up for the fight, augmenting his already increased strength even more, and he came down with linked fists on the lupine's back like a jackhammer. In a blinding flash of speed the creature turned, sending its claws across William's face faster than he could move to stop it. Searing pain gripped William's face where the claws had touched, unlike anything William had ever experienced. He faltered, stumbling back in agony, as the lupine advanced slowly, taking its time as the bullet wounds caused by Karla's gun slowly closed. Behind the creature William could see Karla's body in final death, torn open and ghastly to behold. Blood tears stained his face, joining the blood of his wounds. He clenched his fists, pain turning to rage, and set his blood afire and he charged his lover's killer, resolving to make him pay for his pain. The lupine smiled. Revised Template: Super Advantages: Blood Pool 10 blood pool = 20 point fatigue pool on top of normal fatigue pool = 60 points. (Limitation, only recharged through blood -50%, max of 2 fatigue used per turn -25%) Cost = 15 points. Blood Pool Usage Temporary increase of ST, DX and HT by 2 per 2 fatigue, up to max of blood pool of 10. ST + 20 = 213pts. (-50% limitation of no fatigue gained) DX + 20 = 425pts. HT + 20 = 425pts. (Limitation on all, costs 1 fatigue per use and temporary, max limitation -75%) Cost = 266 points. Note: Each additional BP in pool costs 27 points by above advantages. Use this to determine generation advantages. Unaging = 15 pts. Blood Healing = 25 pts. Doesn't Breathe = 30 pts. Vampiric Invulnerability = 100 pts. Total Advantage Cost = 451 points. Super Disadvantages The Draining = -10 pts. Unhealing = -20 pts. Berserk = -15 pts. Deadly Secret = -30 pts. Rotschrek = Two Severe Phobias; Sunlight and Fire = -30 pts. and -20 pts. respectively = -50 pts. Sundeath = 1d damage per two turns (Sunlight: Very common (80pts), extrapolation of weakness table in Supers to every two turns (x3)) = -240 pts. Weakness to Fire (Common, one level) = -15 pts. Total Disadvantage Cost = -380 points. Total Template Cost = 71 points. Generation Advantage: Note that this table was modeled directly from the original material, as opposed to basing the blood pool off of HT. While this HT basing idea was a good one, it introduced new problems if used with this system, as the cost of HT would have to increase to account for the higher blood pool. Also note that the attribute maximums don't quite mesh with the strength bonuses granted from potence like in WW. This was unavoidable, as the systems are not entirely compatible. Generation BP BP/turn CP cost Attribute Max 13 10 1 0 20 12 11 1 27 20 11 12 1 54 20 10 13 1 81 20 9 14 2 108 20 8 15 3 135 20 7 20 5 270 21 6 30 6 540 22 5 40 8 810 24 4 50 10 1080 25 3 ?(60) ?(12) ?(1350) ?(28) Non-Augmenting Disciplines: All non-augmenting disciplines are now a cost of 10pts/level, but require no fatigue or blood to activate, unless it specifically says so under the discipline. The corresponding skill is used to activate the power, and for certain checks during its use (GM's discretion). Note that if blood is required, but the skill roll is failed, the blood is not spent. Also note that under these rules, Celerity costs 1 BP/turn of use, and Protean powers 2-5 cost 1 BP to activate, as in the original Storyteller game. For disciplines above level 5 using the GURPS Vampire Companion, only use the blood point expenditures listed under each discipline description. Augmenting Disciplines: Celerity: This can be accomplished with Altered Time Rate, with the -75% limitation of one blood point per turn of use (or two fatigue), for a cost of 25pts/level. Hence: Power 1: 1 extra maneuver per turn. 25pts Power 2: 2 extra maneuvers per turn. 50pts Power 3: 3 extra maneuvers per turn. 75pts Power 4: 4 extra maneuvers per turn. 100pts Power 5: 5 extra maneuvers per turn. 125pts Power 6: 6 extra maneuvers per turn. 150pts Power 7: 7 extra maneuvers per turn. 175pts Power 8: 8 extra maneuvers per turn. 200pts Power 9: 9 extra maneuvers per turn. 225pts Power10: 10 extra maneuvers per turn. 250pts Fortitude: This is simply extra DR, at 3pts per point. Note that the scale is different, for reasons explained below. Note that this is always on, it need not be turned on and off at a cost. Power 1: 3 DR 9pts Power 2: 5 DR 15pts Power 3: 7 DR 21pts Power 4: 9 DR 27pts Power 5: 12 DR 36pts Power 6: 15 DR 45pts Power 7: 19 DR 57pts Power 8: 23 DR 69pts Power 9: 28 DR 84pts Power 10: 33 DR 99pts Potence: This is simply increased strength, but the scale was inappropriate. I have designed my own. Originally, if you bought potence as a non-clan discipline, it would cost 8 points for the first level, which was only an increase of +1 to strength. For two more points, a permanent increase could have been gained if your ST was near average or just above. I have strived to make buying the discipline worth the cost, and then balanced Fortitude accordingly. Note that this is always on. It need not be turned on and off at a cost. Simply note the normal ST and the enhanced ST separated by a slash. When you with to raise the ST score, you raise the base ST, not the addition of the two, and no fatigue is gained by the addition of the two. Power 1: +4 ST 23pts Power 2: +8 ST 63pts Power 3: +12 ST 113pts Power 4: +16 ST 163pts Power 5: +24 ST 263pts Power 6: +30 ST 338pts Power 7: +40 ST 463pts Power 8: +50 ST 588pts Power 9: +60 ST 713pts Power 10: +70 ST 838pts Note that the above point values all have the -50% limitation, no fatigue bonus (rounded down). When a vampire uses blood to increase a physical attribute, all skills defaulting off of that attribute go up as well. The increase lasts for the scene, just like in the ST system (or the GM could roll a random number, like 1d minutes, etc.). When HT is raised, and the character is damaged, any points of damage that did not drop the raised HT below the original HT are lost. Otherwise, treat the damage normally. For the duration of the HT increase, the character uses the increased HT for all HT rolls, as well as accounting for how much of a HT pool that the character has below 0 HT. When the HT drops back to normal, the character takes the consequences of her current HT level. Potence was designed so that there was a visible increase in damage done in HTH combat with each increase. I simply began at 10 ST and increased swing by 1d damage per level. Fortitude was designed such that it equalled the average damage done by the same level of Potence. Most characters will start with a ST above 10, so on the average, it should soak all but a little damage that gets through, which is the spirit of the WW rules with their automatic successes on damage for Potence. Note that the increased ST cost was kept down by granting no bonuses to the fatigue pool. Basing the blood pool off of HT was thrown out to more closely model the original material, and for ease of calculation of generation advantages. Here is a sample character for reference. Name: Corey Blaine Cost: 300pts Clan: Brujah ST: 11/15 (10pts) (the 15 is with potence 1 added) DX: 12 (20pts) IQ: 11 (10pts) HT: 12 (20pts) Advantages: Vampire template 71pts Willpower +3 3pts Courage +2 2pts Conscience +2 2pts Combat Reflexes 15pts Disadvantages: Self-Control -4 -8pts Skills: Area Knowledge (Local City) 13 (4pts) Area Knowledge (Local State) 12 (2pts) Brawling 14 (4pts) Carousing 13 (4pts) Detect Lies 10 (2pts) Driving (Car) 10 (0.5pt) Motorcycle 12 (1pt) Fast-Draw (Knife) 15 (8pts) Fast-Draw (Pistol) 12 (1pt) Fast-Talk 12 (4pts) Guns TL7 (Pistol) 15 (8pts) Guns TL7 (Lt. Auto) 13 (2pts) Knife 14 (4pts) Knife Throwing 14 (4pts) Sex Appeal 14 (8pts) Shadowing 14 (8pts) Stealth 14 (8pts) Streetwise 14 (8pts) Holdout 9 (0.5pt) Disciplines: Potence 1 23pts Celerity 1 25pts Presence 1 10pts Awe 13 (16pts) All in all, there were some advantages that weren't taken into account, as well as some equally obscure disadvantages. Hopefully, they will cancel each other out in the long run. The point of these rules was to model the original material as closely as possible. Enjoy. Michael Soulier <[soulie 1] at [server.uwindsor.ca]> <[af 897] at [freenet.hamilton.on.ca]> "Villians, I say to you now, knock off all that evil!" -The Tick