by Clayton J. Miner

 

Dungeons & Dragons	-	Dragon magazine	-	Dragon #17
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As anybody who has played D&D for awhile knows, and any judge
who has rolled one of these up knows, vampires are bad news. When
properly run, vampires are partystompers of the highest degree. A good
vampire has all the tenacity of a D.S.D., the charm of a wanton, willing
damsel, and the craftiness of a Chinese fox, but most of all, vampires
are possessed of high strength and an even higher intelligence. One
vampire in the dungeon should be sufficient to, at the least, decimate a
hardy band of adventurers; he usually totally annihilates his opposition.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which side of the
fangs one is on, most judges I have had the pleasure of playing with do
not use the vampire to its fullest potential. Now then let us look at the
vampire and its abilities, and see why these creatures of the night are so
dreaded by the not so ignorant peasants of the old country.

First of all, the vampire’s greatest weapon is his vast strength. This
takes first place over charm because there is little chance of failure for
the vampire. On the average, the minimum strength for a vampire is an
8:69. With this reservoir of energy a vampire can rip doors off of the
hinges, batter down lords, and lift all but the strongest of fighters off
of his feet, crushing his windpipe as he hauls the warrior into the
shadows.

The charm ability is deadly to the party, but here one has a chance
for one last scream of terror. Too often have vampires in many a dungeon,
mine included, just charmed one person, told him to come to the
master, and spirited him away, leaving behind a whole room full of
tasty corpuscles and nourishing platelets. What an intelligent vampire
does is charm as many people as possible, tell them to wait here for him
to return, and then goes off to retrieve the rest of the party, returning to
his banquet in a short while. Here is one of the places that the legendary
high speed of the vampire is most useful.

But what is the vampire is hungry, and doesn’t want to go on a
blind hunt for more victims? The answer is simple enough, and takes
just a few minutes of advanced planning on the part of the vampire. Instead
of just using his rats and so forth as an attack force, what the
thinking vampire will do, as soon as he moves into your labyrinth, is to
whip the rats and mice, and whatever else he can charm or bully, into a
highly effective spy network. How many adventurers have bothered to
engage a rat in hand-to-hand combat? Why, with this set up, the vampire
can be the undisputed master of the dungeon, not only terrorizing
players, but many monsters (undead not included, of course.)

It is generally recognized that the average vampire can turn himself
into a bat, flitting here and there, looking for a quick snack, but this is
not the only form of transport available to the lamia. I am speaking, of
course, of the vampire’s gaseous form. This is both an offensive and a
defensive ability. All judges are familiar with the defensive aspect of
this, when threatened the vampire becomes gaseous and moves off,
away from the party. However this ability can be very effective in assaulting
the party. All the vampire has to do is rush past the party at the
highest speed it can reach, (in some sources this is said to be up to 50
m.p.h.) buffeting the party as a high wind, continually retracing its
path, eventually wearing down and confusing the poor mortals. And if
things don’t go the way the vampire wants things to go, he just leaves
the party, only to follow it a short distance away, waiting for the
chance to resolidify and pounce once more.

The problem with vampirism in the dungeon is that it grows, like
the plague, as long as there are living creatures available. Eliminating
the vampire is just as hard as surviving an attack. Before you say, “All
you need is a cross!", consider this; that the older a vampire is, the
more resistant he is to crosses, holy water, sunlight, etc. An inexpensive
means of protection is to wear some garlic. You won’t have many
friends, but you might live longer. Another way of insulating yourself
is to dive into a room in the dungeon, close the door and recite biblical
phrases, and break up whatever passes for a host in whatever world you
are in, at the bottom of the door. Outside the dungeon draw a circle in
the ground, an sprinkle the host fragments into the depressions left by
the stick or whatever you have used, reciting prayers and so forth.
When properly made, there is a chance that any unfortunate who is
charmed will be prevented from leaving the circle.

As to mirrors, it depends on how the judge wants to run it. Here
legends conflict, but the main view is that the vampire will run from it.
The secondary view, and a bit more realistic, is that the average vampire
will stay at bay, trying to get the player to drop the mirror.

The recommended method of dealing with a vampire is to stake the
thing, but the noise and struggles involved will usually attract something
else looking for a free meal. The stake is a good method, providing
that the stake is made of either hawthorn or blackthorn, and is
correctly installed. Here is another point that is confusing. According
to legend, the stake has to impale the heart either in one and only one
stroke, or in a number of strokes not to exceed four. The final determination
should be left up to the judge himself. Stakes are a temporary
measure at best. They can rot, be burned away, be pulled out, or jarred
loose, all of which allow the vampire to rise again.

In legend, the best way to permanently end the existence of a vampire
is to find him in his coffin, preferably before dark, or just after
dawn; however, if you can find the vampire after he has been sated at
any time, he, she, it, they will be easier to handle. A vampire with fresh
blood around his mouth has just fed, and if in his coffin, will be rather
lethargic. The procedure for disposing of a vampire is as follows; while
the one person is hammering the stake home, his companion has the
option of saying a prayer for the dead, which will commend the spirit to
heaven. Once the vampire has finished it’s death throes, one of the participants
removes the head from the body, leaving it in the coffin. Next
the heart is to be excised and burned. This ensures that the vampire will
remain in the world of the dead. One of the many options is the placing
of flowers in the hands and the mouths of the body after the stake is in
place, and before the head is removed. Generally however, if the vampire
is over one-hundred years old, it will crumble to dust. In this case,
both the dust and the coffin must be burned!

Another way of sticking it to the vampire is to pour holy water into
the coffin, making it a booby trap. If, as you are walking through the
dungeon, fortunate enough to find a vampire’s coffin, with no vampire,
leave in it a broken host, or a crucifix. This makes the coffin useless
to the vampire, but it won’t destroy him. It will only deny him rest
until he can charm or bully a couple of kobolds into getting him a dirtfilled
replacement. Outside the dungeon however, this is usually a good
method for destroying a vampire without jeopardizing yourself.

Stealing the dirt is another nasty trick, and one worthy of even the
most lawful cleric. A final word of warning; don’t try to employ any of
these measures on a coffin containing the vampire, unless he is sated
with blood, as he will be able to charm you even if the coffin is opened
in sunlight. The charm is almost always successful, because vampire
hunters are sure to be surprised when the vampire looks at him in broad
daylight.

The list of tactics and trick on the part of a vampire is close to endless.
For example, being in gaseous form in a fog, or a mist, going to
gaseous form and slipping part way under a door or window in order to
entice players to fling open the door or window, thereby inviting the
vampire in.

Use your imagination, as I have said the list is almost endless. One
last practice by the vampire is to take a quick snack from the victim,
without killing him, and then either releasing him, or trying to keep him
alive, with the intent to prolong a food supply. A vampire’s victim does
not begin to develop vampire characteristics unless near death, or
forced by the vampire to drink the vampire’s own blood. (See Dracula,
by Bram Stoker)

Well we have now reached the end, and hopefully this will help
both the player’s and the judge in what to expect when battling a vampire.
One thing left needs to be said; Next to a dungeon vampire, Count
Dracula and Nosferatu were pikers! Steer clear of graveyards at night,
and patches of mist in the night, or you will soon be hearing a voice
from the heavens asking; “What was your armour class???”