Dragon Storm Card Based RPG

Presented by Art by Susan Van Camp

Vampires of Tilisyck
by Mark Harmon

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“Vampires of Tilisyck” by Mark Harmon

Introduction:
Vampires are not currently an official part of the official Grandilar world. This means they are not DS Guild approved. I am doing this to test out some ideas and to see where these strange creatures could fit into the DS universe. To use these fine folks the GM should make their own cards or print out this article and use the vampires in their private games. All of the following vampire cards are features which would be added to an existing cast member.

Overview of Vampires:
Vampires are creatures who have appeared in the last 200 years as a side effect of the warp storms so prevalent on today's world. They do not have a long history. Vampires qualify as Mad Spawn and may be charmed by Necromancers using the Charm Madspawn spell. This necromancer ability makes them leery of dealing with necromancers. Being undead the vampires are directly opposed to shamanism and are affected by Dismiss Undead and Banish. Vampires find it difficult to use magic. Their spell ace cards may amount to no more than 20% of their total card points.

Vampiric Organization:
Vampires live in small bands that are composed of living zombies, ghouls, vampires and a master vampire. These bands have come to be referred to as vampire nests. The living zombies live among the locals providing information, cover and supplies for the vampires. The ghouls provide muscle for the vampires. Vampires are the core of the nest. Master Vampires are the vampires who lead a nest and in general all the vampires in a single nest were created by the master.

Thrall Card: Warp Feature 0 / P, 6 card points.
STR= +2, COR= 0, DEF= 0, SPD= +1, WIS= -1, HP= +8, CAP= 0.
Warp DEF= 4.
The Thralls are people who have been infected by a vampire, but have been neither killed to become a ghoul nor completely drained to make a vampire. From the time a victim is bit it days one to six days (d6) for them to become a Thrall. During this time if the victim is purified by Purify Body or a plaguebreaker potion, they are healed and will not become a Thrall. If the creating vampire is destroyed the Thrall returns to normal, never realizing what happened to them.
Thralls are not entirely aware of the position in life and follow the mental commands of their creator. They will act strange, suddenly stopping what they are doing to perform a duty for their vampire creator. The vampire can not tell what the thrall is doing, saying or hearing, but they do know when the thrall stops being a thrall. The thrall will have to go make a verbal reports to their creator for the vampire to know what is happening.
These people are +2 perception and stealth in the dark.

Ghoul Card: Warp Feature 0 / P, 12 card points.
STR=+4, COR= 0, DEF= +2, SPD= +3, WIS= -2, HP=+16, CAP= 0.
Warp DEF= 6.
Ghouls are living creatures, if you can call them alive. They are physically killed by a vampire after they have been bitten, victims who are killed without being bitten are dead. In one to six days (D6) these creatures rise from the dead to follow the orders of either their creator vampire or the master of their creator. They can receive orders mentally at a distance of up to 20 miles. Generally this means anywhere in the same terrain area as their creator.
Ghouls are alive, but they have been dead for a few days. Most ghouls can not walk among normal people, they smell, look bad and drool allot. This does not make it easy to hide what they are. They also have a tendency to think of garbage, dead bodies, and bugs as "good eatin"
Ghouls provide the primary defense of the nest during the day and even at night. They have +4 Stealth and Perception. They are also immune to being put to sleep and subdual damage.
Ghouls regenerate 4 HP per hour of nighttime.
Destroying a ghoul can be done in a couple of ways. A Purify Body removes the warp feature and they fall to the ground, but they do gain a +3 versus Purify Body. A second way is to take them to 0 HP, remove the head and bury it separate from the body. If their creator and her master are gone, or destroyed, the ghoul wanders aimlessly, eating, hunting and killing without purpose.

Vampire Card: Warp Feature 0 / P, 24 card points.
STR= +8, COR= +3, DEF=+2, SPD= +4, WIS= 0, HP= +32, CAP= +1
Warp DEF= 6.
Vampires are allergic to sunlight and take D6 direct magic damage per round in sunlight. Healing spells do not help a vampire. Vampires are undead and receive a +6 roll versus dismiss, banish and purify body. Vampires also have a +6 added to perception and stealth contests.
When a vampire has a successful Purify Body cast on them their Vampire Card is removed for five minutes and then they recover the Vampire card. Vampires regenerate 8 HP per hour at night. They recover cards at a rate of 1 per hour during their traditional daytime slumber.
Vampires have a special magical bite attack which does 2D6 damage, may not be deflected, ignores DEF and is a real pain. The vampire immediately heals an amount equal to the attack. If the bite attack takes the victim to 0 or -1 HP the victim will rise in one to six days to become a vampire. If a bitten victim escapes and survives they will become a Thrall, If they are bitten and then killed physically with 0 or -1 HP they will become a ghoul in one to six days.
To kill a vampire you need to put a wooden stake through their heart, remove their head and burn the body. They will also die if brought to 0 HP by sunlight damage.

Master Vampire Card: Warp Feature, 0 / P, 96 card points.
STR=+12, COR=+6, DEF=+4, SPD=+6, WIS=+3, HP=+48, CAP=+2.
Warp DEF= 10
Master vampires are allergic to sunlight and take D6 direct magic damage per round in sunlight. Healing spells do not help a vampire.
Master vampires are undead and receive a +10 roll versus dismiss, banish and purify body. Vampires also have a +10 added to perception and stealth contests.
Master Vampires take only one-half damage from all magic and physical attacks.
Master Vampires regenerate 4 HP per round at night.
Master Vampires recover all drained cards after sleeping for a day.
Master Vampires have two actions and movements each round of combat.
Master Vampires may fly, without wings, for four hours per night.
When a Master Vampire has her Master Vampire card removed by Purify Body they recover the card at the beginning of the next combat round.
Master Vampires like the good life and rarely actually spend nights in the crummy "nest" with the rest of their vampires. A Master Vampire has a weak telepathic link with all of the creatures they have created. The Master knows what happens to her creatures, but does not see or hear through the eyes and ears of their creatures. The link is primarily used by the Master to give orders.
Master vampires have a special magical bite attack which does 2D6 damage, may not be deflected, ignores DEF and is a real pain. The vampire immediately heals an amount equal to the attack. If the bite attack takes the victim to 0 or -1 HP the victim will rise in one to six days to become a vampire. If a bitten victim escapes and survives they will become a Thrall, If they are bitten and then killed physically with 0 or -1 HP they will become a ghoul in one to six days.
To kill a vampire you need to put a wooden stake through their heart, remove their head and burn the body. They will also die if brought to 0 HP by sunlight damage.
It is unclear how a vampire becomes a master, but it appears that they may do so only once their master has been destroyed. If a master is destroyed the nest scatters and each of the surviving vampires has a chance to become a master.

Dragon's Eye and Vampires:
Dragon's eye puts a living creature to sleep for 1 hour. Undead do not require sleep as you and I understand it. When a dragon looks deeply into the eyes of a vampire they see the spirit plane where the dead exist. This is disconcerting and the Dragon's Eye will fail. The effects on the user of the Dragon's Eye can be many and varied.
Shaman dragons have a knowledge of the spirit plane far beyond that of other living creatures. If the shaman can win a +WIS roll they may attempt to use the Dragon's Eye on an undead vampire or ghoul.

Vampires and Valarians:
Vampires are well aware of the effects for Purify Body on them and that Valarians use Purify Body to protect themselves from infection. This means that vampires try to avoid direct conflict with groups of Valarians. They will happily attack a single valarian and try to turn them. A thrall valarian acts as normal within the limits of being a thrall. A valarian who is infected and becomes a ghoul or vampire looses their Valarian Boon and the ability to use Valarian cards.

Vampires and Necromancers:
Necromancers and vampires do not get along well. Necromancers who are fighting vampires keep a plaguebreaker handy to defend themselves from infection and they keep an unused Charm Madspawn with them to tag a master with. If a necromancer becomes a ghoul or a vampire they can still use necromancy, but they are loyal to their master. Keep in mind that vampires can only use a limited amount of spells.

Vampiric Desires:
Vampiric goals are somewhat similar to those of Valarians, but they use entirely different methods. They use thralls and ghouls to rule and protect themselves. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate necromancy and valarianism so that the world can be made safe for their kind. Because of their vulnerabilities vampire nests tend to know little or nothing about other vampire nests.
Most powerful vampire nests have carved out a place for themselves in a community and are living off of the fruits of others labors.

Adventures with Vampires:
If a group of characters are young and inexperienced they can stumble across the results of a master being killed. That would be bemused peasants, marauding ghouls and other incidental side effects of powerful valarians or necromancers destroying a vampires nest.
If the characters are somewhat better they could encounter a single vampire whose master has been eliminated. She is very carefully attempting to build a network of thralls to protect herself. Near her sleeping place she will have several ghouls for protection. This could be a combat and detective scenario.
If the characters are very powerful they could stumble across evidence of a full fledged nest.....

When you done trying this out and let me know what you thought of my vampires and what you think of GM information and "cards" being published in this format.

Mark Harmon (08/19/2000)

This site is copyright to Susan Van Camp 2007. Art on this site is copyright to Susan Van Camp.

Please do not download or use the art from this site in anyway without the express approval of Susan Van Camp.

e-mail questions to Susan at svancamp@mac.com

For Questions about Dragon Storm, or the web page, e-mail Mark at markharmon@mac.com

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