#Dexters a gangrel from vampire masquerade

[bandyriddles]

I finally got to play the Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Book of Hungry Names demo by Kyle Marquis and it’s great.

Marquis' Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road is not only one of my favorite text games - it's one of my favorite games I've played in the last few years. The player character is a vampire courier in the American Southwest, and the vibes are Fallout: New Vegas meets Vampire: The Masquerade. Like D&D, World of Darkness is a system I'm more familiar with from video games than actual tabletop play, but Marquis really captures the tabletop experience through interesting combinations of character builds, stat checks, and branching narrative paths.

I was thrilled to learn he was working on a follow-up Werewolf: The Apocalypse game set in rural New England. I'm way more of a werewolf girlie than a vampire girlie (I nearly always play Gangrel when it's an option in VtM), and I was really interested in the character writing he would bring to a setting where pack dynamics are more important than being a lone predator.

It's fun. The Werewolf system, unlike VtM, is a much messier amalgamation of new age beliefs rather than traditional folklore and so it takes a little while to understand how things like moon auspice, pack, and spirit patrons interact in actual gameplay, but the game does provide very helpful in-game descriptions and glossaries. I went in completely blind, and ended up accidentally building a ragabash (new moon) werewolf with high dexterity, wits, and intelligence and pretty much zero strength, charisma, and endurance. 

While I initially thought that would make the game basically unplayable, I ended up with a fabulous upstate dirtbag who's great at sneaking, breaking and entering, stabbing, and analog library research. She almost never actually transforms into any wolf-forms, and in fact is so mild-mannered that she frequently loses the ability to transform at all because her rage stat is so low.

While you'd think being shitty at being a werewolf would be a problem in a werewolf game, she's actually been a stat-passing beast who can single-handedly take down powerful monsters because she is just that good at reading books and stabbing.

While the demo only lets you recruit three out of the four main pack companions, they all seem great so far. You've got Massachusetts' only black goth widower werewolf. You've got the wolf-born girl with communication issues who speaks partially via guitar riffs. You've got a crust punk camboy who shows up at one of your first encounters wearing a t-shirt, baseball hat, and booty shorts that all say "MASSHOLE". 

Marquis gets that urban fantasy needs both horror and humor, and I cannot wait for the full game to drop in late April.

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Pride icons with all my tabletop bastards : ). Heres my bastard menagerie

[mxbbadperson]

Beo

(*using Vampire: The Masquerade V5 terminology) Appearance: Black hair dyed red, red contacts on brown eyes, light brown skin Concept: Easygoing club-goer Ambition: To have a good time! Hunting: Alleycat Sire: ??? (Dracul, the vampire dragon god) Generation: Lower (but actually one of the highest, 1st)

Abilities:  Charisma: 4 Manipulation: 3 Composure: 3 Wits: 3 Dexterity: 2 Intelligence: 2 Resolve: 2 Strength: 1 Skills:  Subterfuge: Lying, 4 Persuasion: Friendly, 3 Insight: 3 Survival: 3 Etiquette: 2 Streetwise: 2 Awareness: 2 Investigation: 1 Health: 5/10 Willpower: 5/10 Humanity: 4/10 Powers:  Animalism:  o, Sense the Beast: The vampire can sense the beast within other vampires, mortals and supernatural creatures.​​ oo, Atavism: The vampire can cause an animal to temporarily revert to their primal instincts, forcing them to attack anyone nearby or to flee the scene. ooo, Quell the Beast: The vampire can cow mortals and can pull vampiric targets out of frenzy. Protean: o, Weight of the Feather: The vampire can reduce their effective mass and density, making themselves almost weightless. This allows them to avoid triggering pressure sensors as well as avoiding major damage from falls, collisions, or being thrown. The power cannot be used for longer leaps, as the vampire’s strength is proportionally reduced. Hunger: 3/5 Conviction: Do what I want and suffer consequences Clan Bane: Bestial Features: In frenzy, Gangrel gain one or more animal features: a physical trait, a smell, or a behavioral tic. These features last for one more night afterward, lingering like a hangover following debauchery. Merits & Flaws: Merit: Sudden Loyalty, 3/5 Flaw: Liar 4/5 Flaw: Causes trouble 3/5

[rpggeeknation]

How to play a Vampire in D&D using only official content.

I will run through some simple guidelines on how to play a Vampire in D&D only using official content.

For Race pick Elf. Elves are long-lived, can go into a trance, are perceptive and dexterous, can’t be put to sleep, and can resist magical charming. For subrace, we have a few options:

1. High Elf is our best choice. If you take high elf, take one of the following cantrips (Chill Touch, Minor Illusion, or Frostbite). For the language pick any, but some thematic ones are the following (Infernal, Sylvan).

2. Shadar-Kai.

3. If Eberron (or at least Eberron rules) are allowed then the Mark of Shadow Elf is decent too.

For class: Bard, Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard are best.

College of Whispers or College of Glamour Bard

Eldritch Knight Fighter

Assassin, Mastermind, or Arcane Trickster Rogue.

Archfey, Undying, or Hexblade Warlock.

Illusion, Enchantment, or Necromancy Wizard.

NOTE 1: For Archfey you could say that your patron is a Vampiric Fey. Or you could say Vampires (or at least the first Vampires) are/were a type of fey (Unseelie) or were created by said fey. OR you could say that your Patron is a Vampire and not a fey but that the Fey Patron subclass best represents it.

NOTE 2: If you wanna play a Monstrous Vampire like the Nosferatu from Vampire the Masquerade or Vampire the Requiem, or you wanna play a vampire who has given in to the beast/hunger than Barbarian works as well. Also for the aforementioned Nosferatu Vampire or an outcast vampire hermit, you could take Circle of Spores Druid (if Ravnica options are allowed).

Important Skills to take are Stealth, Sleight of Hand, Acrobatics, Persuasion, Intimidate, Arcana, History, Religion, Perception, and Insight.

Good backgrounds are Noble, Hermit, and Haunted One (or make your own).

If you are a spell caster your damaging spells should focus on Necrotic, Cold, and Psychic damage. Summoning and Shape changing spells are always good.

Some Great Spells: Bane, Charm Person, Command, Fog Cloud, Jump, Find Familiar, Longstrider, Faerie Fire, Shield, Blur, Darkness, Detect Thoughts, Hold Person, Invisibility, Magic Weapon, Mirror Image, Misty Step, Pass without Trace, Ray of Enfeeblement, See Invisibility, Shadow Blade, Spider Climb, Suggestion, Bestow Curse, Conjure Animals, Fear, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Major Image, Revivify, Slow, Speak with Dead, Vampiric Touch, Water Walk, Black Tentacles, Dominate Beast, Phantasmal Killer, Inflict Wounds, Polymorph, Contagion, Enemies Abound, Danse Macabre Dominate Person, Modify Memory, Scrying, Telekinesis, Expeditious Retreat, Mass Suggestion, Soul Cage, Truesight, Maddening Darkness, Time Stop.

Vampiric Touch is a must.

For Conjure Animals I recommend: 

CR 0 - Bats, Rats, Ravens

CR 1/8 - Blood Hawk, Stirge, Giant Rat, Poisonous Snake

CR 1/4 - Swarm of Bats, Giant Bat, Wolf, Constrictor Snake, Giant Poisonous Snake, Swarm of Rats, Swarm of Ravens.

CR 1/2 - Swarm of Insects, Swarm of Rot Grubs

CR 1 - Dire Wolf

CR 2 - Giant Constrictor Snake, Swarm of Poisonous Snakes

NOTE: Cast Polymorph on yourself to become a Dire Wolf or Giant Bat.

For melee combat focus on dex builds whenever possible. Mixing Magic and Melee are great ways to feel vampiric.

Archetypical Vampires you can create include the following: The Shadowy Killer (Jack the Ripper; History), The Seductive Predator (Alucard; Castlevania), the Monster in the Dark Woods (Gangrel; VtM), The Blooddrinking Noble (Elizabeth Bathory; History), the Hungering Beast (Nosferatu; VtM), and many more.

The point is you can, with a little imagination, build a Vampiric Character using only official options.