Partially Used: Vampires: Some Thoughts and Perspectives

Hey everyone! Myth here, I'm a newcomer to Aenea, and since we have some time to kill, I though I'd post some of my thoughts and feelings concerning the Vampire player race. Keep in mind, my vampire, Vaelyn, is only 9th level, and a monk besides, so my newbie perspectives may be skewed by that.

Anyway, VAMPIRISM! Blessing or Curse? Let's take a point-by-point look.

Death by Sunlight: This is the big one, it seems, so I thought I'd address it first. Barring powerful magic items, any vampire, regardless of level, will be dusted in 4 rounds. This is actually not as bad as you might think, provided you're careful, and it's certainly gameable. I've taken to playing an alt during the daylight hours if Vaelyn is stuck someplace boring or if she's too far away from shelter when the sunrise is too close.

Daytime Weakness: At night, vampires enjoy a regen of 1hp/round and a +2 to STR and CHR. During the day, these benefits are lost. Unfortunate, but thematically, it makes sense. However, the race description on the website only mentions that the regeneration disappears, not the stat bonuses. Might want to fix that.

+25% Movement Speed: This is awesome. And added to the speed that monks get, it's almost too fast. I'll never need to buy a horse, and I doubt one could keep up with me. So yes, I'm loving this.

Damage Protection +1/5: At low levels, this is great. Absolutely fantastic. However, sometime after 5th level, everything and their great grandmother is using magical weapons or casting spells. Later still, everything starts hitting so hard that the resistance is nearly useless. Personally, I would have prefered a 5 pt resist to blunt/slash/pierce, but I can understand using the same thing that the NWN engine stuck with NPC vampires.

Weakness to Silver: Usually, this only affects what sort of equipment or loot Vaelyn can carry, and since she's a monk, it's not so much of an issue. Any other melee vampire is going to be seriously hurting when they meet up with a pack of werewolves on a moonlit night, though...

Dominate Animal and Dominate Person: Not sure if it's just me or not, but these work so very seldom that I rarely even try to use them. If they were a nighttime only power, I wouldn't mind. I'd rather have the regen during the day, to heal my sunburned hide.

Bloodthirst and Damage from Healing Spells/Potions/Kits: Okay, this is the big thing for me. Only being healed by drinking blood makes sense, since vamps are undead, and that's fine really. But the -4 to INT, WIS, and CHR anytime you're reduced to 50% or lower hit points is freaking lethal, even moreso than sunlight, at least for a monk. Or any sort of caster. Paladins would be screwed utterly, I imagine. It's this more than anything that makes me consider whether the 25% XP penalty is really worth it.

There are a bunch of other things that have popped up as well. For instance, with the schitzophrenic alignment shifts, it's easier to maintain a Lawful Good alignment rather than Lawful Evil. Chaotic Evil would be easy, but then she couldn't progress as a monk without running up to Mountholm every other day. A Chaotic Evil ranger vampire may have been a better choice, in retrospect. One who strives for mastery over Nature instead of harmony with it. Or maybe a fighter/rogue, or even an assassin. Evil and Chaos are far easier to maintain that Evil and Law.

Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts on the vampire player race. Do I enjoy it? Certainly. It's very challenging. But from my perspective, vampirism is definitely more of a curse than a blessing.

ModernMyth wrote:Bloodthirst...the -4 to INT, WIS, and CHR anytime you're reduced to 50% or lower hit points is freaking lethal, even moreso than sunlight, at least for a monk. Or any sort of caster. Paladins would be screwed utterly, I imagine. It's this more than anything that makes me consider whether the 25% XP penalty is really worth it.

Hmmm...the ability penalties were intended to make vampires feel more "animalistic/closer to mindless" when seriously needing blood. I think I'll keep this, but maybe drop it to when you hit less than 10% hitpoints.

ModernMyth wrote:...schitzophrenic alignment shifts...

Aligment shifts are based on the alignment of what you kill.