So, I started the players in their coffins. One had to claw his way out, other was in a family crypt, and the third... well, he got out free, and started by rolling initiative vs. a very disappointed ghoul.
Balance is all over the place - I gave them 2 NA, the ability modifiers, blood drain and one special ability of their choice. All of them picked fast healing.
Still, not that much HP, and quite vulnerable to turning and such. But, decisions are more of a key than their abilities.
I inadvertedly gave them an added complication- moving a family crypt is rather trickier than moving a wooden coffin
Questions? Things happened, but I'm so unfocused right now, I'll try to edit this post tomorrow.
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Promised information:
- Okay, so, woke up in coffins, ghoul.
- Backstory: A party went against a vampire. Didn't win.
- Composition: Fighter, Rogue, Esper
- Hungry. To the town!
- But first, a quick stop at the graveyard caretaker's hut.
- Aroused suspicions successfully, noticed, that cannot enter houses without invitation
- Went to town, encountered night watchmen. Had supper.
- Dumped bodies in nearby river, had a little priest. Dumped in river.
- Encountered a group of revellers - a well-to-do landowner's son had successfully proposed during a competition with a neighbouring town, and the local baron had suggested continuing the party at his new mansion. Such a nice fellow.
- Joined the group.
- The new mansion was on a small island in the river, oops.
- To bed.
- Following night, apparently the party still continued at the mansion for some, so they hired a very, very drunk wagon driver.
- The mansion seemed empty, but the baron had taken a few participants to the wine cellar.
- Discovered few people in the cellar, and an open secret door.
- Found an orgy-slash-demon summoning. Instinctively disrupted the summoning. As it turns out, the Esper vampire is a cousin of the baron.
- Tried to continue the summoning, but the baron messed up, and ended up getting possessed by the succubus of malcanteth.
- Vampires were summarily dismissed for the night. They uncorked a wine drinker on the way out.
- DnD vampires do not have magical wound healing saliva, so maybe they should have kept those cure light potions the priest had. Oops.
***end of session***
- Following night, they were warned by the succubus-in-baron-suit, to keep a low profile (I had already statted a PF-undead-hunting-party, paladins and rangers with the right FE are HARSH vs. undead.), so they went to look for travellers. They found an owlbear, and later encountered Vardalak Axebearer.
- DM observation: A vampire's temp HP are a HUGE deal. An average commoner will give 50 temp HP. Anyone knows anything official about the duration the temp HP lasts? I've had them zero out every time they sleep.
- So, they visited the tavern and Gathered Information about Treasure.
- I dropped them Ye Olde Wampyre Castle, a Crypt at the Cemetary, and...something else. They picked the crypt, since they're staying there - might as well check one's backyard first.
- I used the catacomb map from Heroes of Horror.
- Nothing Much happened. Adventuring blah. They did discover a hero's grave, with an amulet they couldn't approach and a sword emblazoned with a symbol of the sun.
- Following night, succubus appeared again, and queried if the PCs had anything to do with a torn-apart body found in the town. They didn't.
- You gotta set up Vampires vs. Werewolves, wouldn't be proper otherwise.
- They lured a party of first-level adventurers to the crypt. The first-level rogue looted the Vampire Rogue's adamantine dagger (from the crypt catacombs)
- They waited for 30 mins to give them head start, then followed.
- The NPC party looted the vampire's stuff - including the problematic amulet and the Sun Blade. oops.
- A fun, if ultimately futile fight - The npc fighter got a critical hit in with the Sun Blade. (pathfinder crit rules)
- Found a bunch of ghasts hiding in coffins. Instead of encounter, they were pointed towards fresh food.
- A temple in the catacombs; In it, they found an adamantine lock box, bound with eight chains. Of course they opened it.
- Within, compressed between thick slabs of bolted-together lead plates, they found the Deck of Many Things.
- The Vampire Rogue's player is now rolling a new character.
