You took mine. So I will add that, upon hearing this, Nightcrawler bamfed in, saying that he was a believer. He got his butt handed to him too, however.
Avalonian - I haven’t read the Dan Simmons novel but is the 1991 film Children of the Night based on his book? They sound awfully similar. Regardless of the its IMDb ranking, I liked the movie as it took a somewhat more scientific approach to vampirism (a la Near Dark).
You mean there are authoritative sources out there? Spill!!
Well, you can’t get more authoritative than the works of Dr. Rudolph van Richten, the most famous monster hunter in Ravenloft. In order to ward off a vampire with a holy symbol, you must roll 1d20 + your Charisma bonus and have the result be equal to or greater than 10 + 1/2 the vampire’s Hit Dice + the vampire’s Charisma bonus. The roll is subject to the following modifiers:[ul]
[li]+1 if the character is a paladin or cleric of the deity the symbol represents.[/li][li]+2 if the deity is associated with the sun.[/li][li]+1 if the deity is good.[/li][li]+1 if the character is an Innocent.[/li][li]+1 if the holy symbol is of masterwork quality.[/li][li]-1 if the holy symbol is makeshift or poor quality.[/li][li]+2 if the vampire worshipped the deity while alive.[/li][li]-1 if the vampire is unfamiliar with the deity.[/li][li]+2 if the character has the Iron Will feat.[/li][li]-2 if the vampire has the Iron Will feat.[/li][li]-2 if the vampire has caused the character to fail a Fear, Horror, or Madness save within the past 24 hours.[/li][li]-1 if the vampire has caused the character to fail a Fear, Horror, or Madness save at any other time.[/li][/ul]Who needs folklore when you can get mathematically precise results like this?
Avalonian
Charles Bowen was the first I knew of, in his “Diary of a Vampire” c. 1994. When was Simmons’ book?
White Lightning
Nope. As I noted, Nightcrawler snatched up a couple of sticks and formed a cross. Not only did he not get his butt handed to him, IIRC Dracula actually fled the battle.
How many hit dice do vampires have on average?
Beacuse assuming average charisma for people and vampires, the odds are (for an atheist with a cross)
+2 for the sun bonus (He made it. That counts)
+1 for the good deity (Sort of. Excepting the massacres and whatnot)
+1 for innocence (atheists can’t sin, by definition.)
+2 for Iron Will (what with resisting the evangelists and all)
That’s D20 + 6 :: 10 + Vampire HD. Not bad.
Of course, what happens when an atheist drops 50 pebbles enchanted with invisibility and continual light into a parabolic reflector and points it at a vampire?
Then there’s always Love at First Bite:
Rosenberg: “Ha hah! Three silver bullets through the heart! blam, blam, blam”
Dracula: “No, Dr. Rosenberg, that is for werewolves.”
Rosenberg: “Really? Dang.”
Since it’s not sunlight, it probably wouldn’t have much effect.
Tangential vampire thing that popped into my head:
Anyone remember the lousy Dracula: the Series syndicated show a few years ago? Y’know, it’s one of those lousy off-network shows like VIP or Mutant X or what have you. Anyway, one of the characters invented a photonic gun intended to kill vampires. It later turned out to be a “delayed reaction vampire gun”: it’d zap a vampire, but not kill him until hours later.
Now, for D&D purposes…what if I had a cleric bless a Decanter of Endless Water? Couldn’t I just put it on “nuke” setting, find a nice crypt in Ravenloft, and let the XPs just rack up?
As long as were citing fine literature, in the comic book series Vamps it’s definitely a matter of the icon wielder’s faith. One of the vampires is planning on attacking this crazy homeless guy, who suddenly pulls out a hubcap which he thinks is a holy shield. The vampire knows it’s just a hubcap, but because the crazy guy really believes in its power, it actually works to repel the vampire.
Just thought I’d mention, for those keeping score at home, that “I Am Legend” was the source material for the movie “The Omega Man” … and, for that matter, the Simpsons parody “The Homega Man,” which I saw before I saw the movie.
Simmons’ Children of the Night was first published in 1992, according to Amazon. Didn’t have my first edition handy to check. grin
Horseflesh, that obviously answers your question… the movie you mention came before Simmons’ book. Since “children of the night” is actually a phrase used in Stoker’s novel Dracula, it’s fairly common in vampire literature these days. The movie sounds like it might be worth a late-night viewing, I’ll have to give it a go.
Near Dark, by the way, is pretty much my favorite vampire film. And another good example of a vampire story that pretty much avoids any religious involvement. But lots of guns! A great film by Kathryn Bigelow.
Has a vampire ever taken on a dedicated sun worshiper?
Near Dark also avoids use of the word “vampire,” which is a really neat trick. GREAT movie. Great soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.
ResIpsaLoquitor, I’d say the cleric would have to be able to bless an infinite amount of water… isn’t that spell limited in how much water can be blessed?
They’re not blessing the water, though–they’re blessing the decanter that produces the water. Big difference, and who knows if it would cause it to produce holy water? If I were DM, I’d say no.
No idea.
“I Am Legend” was also the source for the movie “The Last Man on Earth” (see http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058700 ) starring Vincent Price. It is much more faithful to the book and, IMHO, a much better movie.
Joanna Russ wrote a short story, “My Dear Emily” (reprinted in Terry Carr and Martin Greenburg’s anthology A Treasury of Modern Fantasy), in which an atheist uses a crucifix against a vampire. He takes it from her and says something like: "You use it like a hypodermic. Now if it was in your father’s hands… " (Her father was a stuffy but devout clergyman).
In one D&D adventure a long time ago, my atheist, elven mage/thief was a member of a party that confronted a powerful vampire, but his solution involved magic missiles and a fireball, not a holy symbol. However, robert probably doesn’t want to hear about that.
Yes, setting the bastards on fire always seems to work pretty well, doesn’t it?
In Terry Practchett’s excellent (and very funny, of course) Carpe Jugulum has an interesting take on vampires and holy symbols. The patriarch of a thoroughly modern family of “vampyres” believes that aversion to holy symbols, garlic, sunlight, etc., is mostly psychosomatic. He attempts to acclimate his family to these things through psychological techniques such as surprising the kids with flashcards of various holy symbols – “Good, good, you hardly even flinched that time!”
This works fairly well, but towards the end of the novel one vampire character starts to freak out because she knows so many exotic holy symbols that she can hardly look anywhere without seeing something in the shape of one.
I recall reading a short story, the title and author of which I will probably remember 2 seconds after hitting “submit”, which featured a thoroughly modern vampire. Instead of hunting his victims, he utilized a mass mailing technique, sending out cards informing his intended meals that “A vampire will be calling on such and such a date at such and such a time. Please remove all religious symbols and mirrors.” His victims, expecting a creative kind of new salesman, complied.
Anyway, the victim the story focuses on is a well-to-do executive type who, after realizing what’s going on, tries the old crucifix trick. No dice. In a panic, he pulls out his wallet and tries to bribe the advancing vampire, throwing twenties and fifties at him, babbling and pleading. And guess what? The cash repels the bloodsucker, who flees shrieking through the window.
I think I’ll put all my faith in my old Rainbow Brite doll and go a-huntin’ for vampires.