D&D 4e: Vampires will be a class.

[Crusoe]

Gotta get that twilight demographic.

That and, real DnD players play 3.5.

True DnD players plays the second edition.

Amen to that.

 

[waywardOne]

d&d died with the advent of the spreadsheet era (3rd ed).

 

[Ebonsword]

Gotta get that twilight demographic.

That and, real DnD players play 3.5.

True DnD players plays the second edition.

Amen to that.

2nd Edition was the worst of all worlds. It lacked the cool fluff and atmospheric writing of the Gygax era (when demons and devils were actually called demons and devils) yet it also lacked the insane multi-classing possibilities of 3rd edition.

 

[TripJack]

pure d&d players only play od&d you twats

 

[Hobo Elf]

Gotta get that twilight demographic.

That and, real DnD players play 3.5.

True DnD players plays the second edition.

Amen to that.

2nd Edition was the worst of all worlds. It lacked the cool fluff and atmospheric writing of the Gygax era (when demons and devils were actually called demons and devils) yet it also lacked the insane multi-classing possibilities of 3rd edition.

This is what munchkins actually believe.

 

[Havoc]

I always knew 4e was shit.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I've never been fond of the vampire being a race because vampires are not naturally occurring phenomenoms, like dwarves, elves, humans, orcs, etc.
However, I would like to see the background possibility of taking a base race and vampirising it (shitty word I know). He's a human, but has a boost to certain stats and senses, etc, but has a significant number of penalties when regarding holy relics, daylight, etc. Maybe it should be a major status change that adds and detracts from your race as a whole? Who the fuck knows. I just never agreed with it being a race, because, while I never checked in DnD, as far as I knew, Vampys are not born but made. But I'm still not comfortable with the idea of them as a class all to themselves.

 

[Havoc]

In 3.5 (and 3.0) it was a template. Something you can give to any living (for the vampire) creature/race.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Lycanthropy too. Although that seems better suited to the template/race classification. It's not like there's a lot of lore about ancient Werewolves turning to mist or enthralling hordes of slaves.

 

[aleph]

Gotta get that twilight demographic.

That and, real DnD players play 3.5.

True DnD players plays the second edition.

Amen to that.

2nd Edition was the worst of all worlds. It lacked the cool fluff and atmospheric writing of the Gygax era (when demons and devils were actually called demons and devils) yet it also lacked the insane multi-classing possibilities of 3rd edition.

GTFO!


Anyway, the only worthwile D&D edition is, of course, AD&D 2nd edition together with the Planescape/Dark Sun setting.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Lol, did you guys hear? Elves and dwarves are a race now, not a class. Fucking hell, ad&d

I still have my old D&D manuals where Dwarves, Elves and Normal Man are character classes.

You beat me to it. I was gonna say this is too oldsk00l for these popamole codexers.

 

[Dr.Faust]

D&D is the McD's of RPG systems. Use a better system for you p&p and hope they don't make too many games based on 4e.

 

[deuxhero]

This could be done wellish. The Savage Species monster race classes were a decent idea, and made playable in fan versions. It wasn't so much your class was "vampire" as it was that you gained "vampire" abilities in place of class levels (except you got saves and hit-die advancement, unlike level adjustment). links are the fan-made updates that make the system functional.

 

[santino27]

Vampirism is neither a race nor a class. It's an affliction.

Agreed. An elf mage who gets turned should be an elven vampire mage, not an elven vampire.

It's not that different from a elven mage/vampire multiclass is it?

That's a good point... but honestly, I'd think an affliction that gives you abilities as you age (vampirism) could/should still be separate from an xp-driven class.

i.e. I'd think an elven vampire mage would:
(a) gain powers as they grow older, per 'usual' with vampires
(b) be able to improve as a wizard via xp (quests, etc.), per a standard wizard

Obviously, it really depends on the implementation. It just doesn't feel like vampires (as they've been previously presented) really make sense as a class.

That's purely my opinion though... and the last PnP AD&D I played was 2nd ed. so I am well behind the times.

 

[Antihero]

Better question is what self-respecting DM would let their players be vampires. Might as well play Vampire: the Masquerade (old World of Darkness, naturally, not the lame Requiem). D&D 4e, so it's a trick question anyway.

 

[Mastermind]

Vampirism is neither a race nor a class. It's an affliction. TES did it right.

Actually they should be an undead subrace (assuming undead is considered a race, and arguments both for and against it could be made).

 

[AzraelCC]

Just use Savage Worlds. If you have any semblance of an imagination, you should be able to roleplay any type of world you want.

 

[DraQ]

Vampirism is neither a race nor a class. It's an affliction. TES did it right.

Actually they should be an undead subrace (assuming undead is considered a race, and arguments both for and against it could be made).

Undead cannot be considered a race because undeath can be a condition of about every organic being and undeath, at least corporeal, doesn't generally override a good subset of racial traits including size, morphology and so on.

 

[Mastermind]

Undead cannot be considered a race because undeath can be a condition of about every organic being

Actually undead is just animated dead matter. That the matter used to be organic life doesn't have to matter. I see them in the same way I see constructs like golems, only instead of animating inanimate matter it animates dead matter.

and undeath, at least corporeal, doesn't generally override a good subset of racial traits including size, morphology and so on.

The same can be said for a great deal of broad "races" used in RPGs like lizards, demons, beasts, etc. Or even individual members of the same race. Undead Conan and an undead midget are more distinct than a beefy undead elf warrior and a run of the will undead human merc.

If it needs to be fleshed out further it could be done through backgrounds. IE: you pick the "used to be an ogre" background and your shape and stats change accordingly.

 

[MicoSelva]

Wow, D&D 4E sucks!

What else is new?

 

[Fowyr]

True DnD players plays the second edition.

This

 

[Azrael the cat]

I always liked watching people's reactions when they were told if they wanted to be a vampire they had to be eight levels behind everyone else.

3.5 was so wonderful.

I thought that was awesome, but also great for the player who wanted to paly a vampire. It was just more interesting at a strategic level: trading off 8 levels for some seriously awesome buffs (mist-form by itself was an insane buff, let alone the ability to create minions, the summons, str-drain attacks, bite, stat-boosts, flight in batform, dominate, health regeneration...). It made for interesting gameplay - you have much lower skills, crippled spell-casting ability, major vulnerability to clerics, but in return for ultra-powerful stats and creature-abilities. It ends up playing genuinely differently (which is what the player choosing vampire is after, really, he/she wants to be the odd one out) without actually overpowering him/her.

 

[DraQ]

Undead cannot be considered a race because undeath can be a condition of about every organic being

Actually undead is just animated dead matter. That the matter used to be organic life doesn't have to matter.

Actually it does, because that this matter used to be organic life is what defines undead.
And it's not necessarily just matter - you have various incorporeal undead like ghosts and such too.
Undead can be corporeal or not, can be pretty much mindless servants raised by external force - like your typical skeletons and zombies, or can be conscious and willing subjects who transcended their need to have living body - like liches, they can come from variety of races and species, as different as humanoids and dragons (dracolich). The only common denominator of undead is that they were once alive, and now they are dead but don't really seem affected by it, at least in terms of general activity.

The same can be said for a great deal of broad "races" used in RPGs like lizards, demons, beasts, etc. Or even individual members of the same race. Undead Conan and an undead midget are more distinct than a beefy undead elf warrior and a run of the will undead human merc.

How about, for example, undead dragon?

Undeath is not a race, it's a state.

 

[Daemongar]

2nd Edition was the worst of all worlds. It lacked the cool fluff and atmospheric writing of the Gygax era (when demons and devils were actually called demons and devils) yet it also lacked the insane multi-classing possibilities of 3rd edition.

Right on Ebonsword. The First edition DM's guide and PH are works of art, and the later versions are pale imitations. I won't begrudge 2nd edition players, though. The two versions weren't all that different, not compared to 3.0, 3.5, and the steaming pile that is 4.0. Second edition did have some neat classes and features, and still rolled characters, all that.

 

[DragoFireheart]

DnD has been trash since the introduction of mutli-classing without severe penalties. 2nd Edition was the best (even if THACO was a little unintuitive).