Super Beings in the T&T Universe: Part 2

Super Beings in the T&T Universe
by 'Mad' Roy Cram

Professor Whenn and Yorrdamma Vrash are doing research on entities of the Troll World that possess unusual or extraordinary talents and/or abilities which make them superior to ordinary beings. If anyone has comments or questions they may trollmail Yorrdamma Vrash via Trollhalla, who will be happy to respond to any inquiries.

Vampyres

Of all the Undead, Vampyres are perhaps the most dangerous and powerful. The old experienced master Vampyre wizard-warrior can give even strong groups of players a run for their money. Fortunately, not all Vampyres start at that level of prowess, nor do the majority easily achieve such levels. Let us begin with a general discussion of these dreaded creatures and their advantages and disadvantages.

Vampyres are made, not born. When a Vampyre drains the blood of a victim, it may either leave it to rot (in which case it may rarely return as a blood drinking zombie which has none of the Vampyric advantages, but all the disadvantages), or the Vampyre may elect to initiate the victim and ‘bring them over’. This involves returning some of the blood from the Vampyre to the victim who is then buried. On the next night the victim will rise from their grave, usually as a slave or servant to the creature who made them. Most Vampyres are not keen to create these new members of their race; they do not get along with each other in most cases, and they despise rivals. Most powerful Vampyres were powerful as humans, and the transformation to the Undead state only enhances the powers they had when they were human. The usual slave or servant Vampyre rarely has any of the significant magical abilities of the Masters, and is usually obsessed with the need to drink more and more blood. In most cases the Master will be compelled to destroy his progeny.

So, what powers do Vampyres, old or new, possess in common?  From the start, they all have enhanced attributes (STR x 2.5, INT and LCK x 1.5). As they gain experience the original value of these attributes, as well as the others, may be increased.  Vampyres are all immune to most poisons that would otherwise harm living tissues. They do not have to breathe. Vampyres have the ability to climb up or down walls like a spider. They are not effected by any spells that would effect them mentally, such as Oh-Go-Away or Yassa-Massa. Normal weapons only do them spite damage. They heal one point of damage for each point of blood they drain from a victim.

For spells, the Vampyre must learn the spell from another Vampyre or a Wizard like any other character. If the Vampyre was a Wizard before he was brought over, he will gain spells as a Wizard. Otherwise, he will gain spells as a Rogue does. Vampyres will not, and perhaps cannot, do magic involving fire of any kind. 

There are several special spells that are unique to these creatures:

OBEY-ME: is a variation of the common charm spell or Yassa-Massa. It costs 10 Wiz to cast, but the Vampyre can cast it on one person per round by simply looking into the subject’s eyes. The victim does not have to be subdued, but if the sum of his STR + INT + DEX is less than the Vampyres attribute’s total, he will become the Vampyre’s willing slave. The Vampyre can’t cast this spell while he is actively engaged in combat.

SHAPE-CHANGE: Costs 10 Wiz, and allows the Vampyre to take on the form of a Wolf or a Giant Bat. His clothes disappear when he changes, and reappear when he returns to his Vampyre form. This spell doubles his SPD, and he can do whatever the creature whose form he has assumed could do. He cannot cast other spells or use weapons or armor while in these forms.

MIST-ME:  Costs 10 Wiz to cast, and turns the Vampyre into a cloud of mist or fog that can move at walking speed, but can only be harmed by fire, spells, or sunlight. The Vampyre cannot do any harm to anyone in this form, or use any other magic.

Other favorite Vampyre spells include Hidey Hole, Little Feets, Fly Me, and Rock-A-Bye.

Vampyres can call and control rats or bats if any are about, and, in the woods, can call wolves to their aid, if any are near. The older and more powerful the Vampyre, the more effective they are in doing this.

Now for the disadvantages of the Vampyre. The Vampyre must feed frequently and can only drink blood, human (preferred) or animal. Unless he feeds at least every other day his desire for blood can drive him literally to madness. This unquenchable thirst is especially acute in the young Vampyres.

The Vampyre cannot endure direct or even indirect sunlight. In his first round of exposure, he will suffer 6+1D6 loss of CON points, and, beginning in the second round of solar exposure, he will lose the same amount from each of his attributes each round thereafter, until he gets out of the sun or is burnt to ashes. Smart characters will know to scatter the ashes as some Vampyres can be revived by mixing their ash remains with fresh blood.

A wooden stake through a Vampyre’s heart will paralyze him. His mouth must be filled with garlic, and his head cut off to kill him. If a Vampyre is decapitated, care must be taken to separate the head from the body, for if they are buried together, old, powerful Vampyres may rejoin and rise from the grave.

Vampyres must rest in the daytime in a coffin that contains at least a cup full of the soil they were buried in. They become helpless if they cannot return to their proper resting place when the sun rises. Older Master Vampyres may still fight, but will suffer a 50% reduction in all their attributes in these situations.

Most young Vampyres cannot cross any body of moving water (a stream or river) under their own power. Older Vampyres may do it, but not without some difficulty. Immersion in running water has the same effect on Vampyres as exposure to sunlight.

Vampyres, though not harmed by garlic or holy objects find them intolerable, and will not be able to approach such objects. Holy Water, however, will burn them like an acid.

Vampyres can be wounded normally by magic or enchanted weapons, or by fire. Cold based spells don’t effect them, but fire magic gets 50% more damage than normal.

Vampyres cannot enter Temples or Churches of good deities.

They also cannot cross the threshold or enter a house or home without being invited by someone inside.

Sample Vampyres

Count Rasulki Hemo was an Earl in one of the Kasar duchies, and was a student of dark magics and occult things. When political problems and an internecine war reduced him to desperate straits, he was approached by a powerful old Vampyre who offered him ‘immortality and great power’, and he accepted the offer. Rising from his tomb he found that he was now the slave of his maker. He served the Master for many years and kept his sanity until his powers increased to the point where he was able to kill the Master. That was 300 years ago. Over the years he grew stronger and wiser, until one day he attacked a pilgrim on a lonely forest road. The pilgrim was a powerful holy man, and he showed Rasulki a vision of Hell and the punishment that awaited his kind there. Horrified at the prospect of eternal hopeless suffering, the Count foreswore his evil ways and vowed to make amends.

Now he dwells in Kasar city where he seeks to root out and destroy evil beings and persons. He still needs to drink blood, but never drains a victim to the point of death, and he never attacks any good or decent citizen. He has several well hidden coffins in secure places in the city, and he is very cautious in all his activities. Let the wicked beware him though. They have put a large bounty out on him, but he continues to plague them and bring them to justice.

The Count is a 6’ 2”, 220 pound man. He is very handsome, but is also a master of disguises. He is a third level wizard, and adept at most of the spells up to that level.

He possesses a Rapier with a permanent Zapathingum spell (9 Dice + 12 adds). He wears a suit of Zaparmored Leather that takes 18 hits. He has a lot of gold and gems well hidden near his resting places.

The Count is very wise and risk averse. He does most of his hunting during the wee hours of the night.

Count Hemo’s attributes:

STR: 38

CON: 31

INT: 33

WIZ: 30

DEX: 24

SPD: 16

LCK: 42

CHR: 22

Combat Adds: 72

Though other ‘Supers’ in the city fear him and do not trust him, he does what he can to assist them when he can. He is very good at getting information, and frequently passes it on to the Watch or to those who, like him, are dedicated to fighting evil in whatever form it takes.

Tunos Ferat was a devilishly handsome and successful Rogue who was ‘drafted’ into the Vampyre community of the city, not entirely, it must be said, of his own free will. But, once he had a chance to experience his new abilities he seemed to grow into the role, and was soon becoming a major player in the group.

Then one night he tried to bite a pilgrim on his way to one of the city temples who turned out to be a Weird Holy Man. The very annoyed saint then cursed the hapless would-be blood sucker. He made him ugly as a ten mile stretch of unpaved road. All his beautiful hair fell out, he grew long and skinny, his perfect teeth formed into hideous bucktoothed fangs protruding down over his lower lip, and for a final touch he was given a body odor of amazing properties. Any human who gets a whiff of it has to make a level four saving roll on their constitution or be nauseated and blinded for as many rounds as they missed the SR by.  But worse, any vampyre  that gets within ten feet of Tunos is immediately rendered helpless.

When he tried to return to his new ‘family’, they were horrified and tried to destroy him. He was forced to flee and take refuge in the sewers of the city by day, an act that did not improve his odor problem.

No longer able to prey on victims using his former beauty, he was now compelled to prey on his former Vampyre friends, or to feed on unconscious drunks or gutter scum he could find asleep in the slums and alleys of the city. Thus he became the Vampyre’s Boogey Man. In this role, he found an ally in the person of Count Rasulki Hemo, who at least would talk to him (from a safe distance upwind), and the two shared information on the Vampyre community.

Tunos likes to leap down on victims from a roof top or ceililng, and gets surprise on his targets on a roll of 1-4 on a D6. He will only attack lone or single persons or Vampyres.

Tunos Ferat’s attributes:

STR: 24

CON: 36

INT: 16

WIZ: 20

DEX: 16

SPD: 20

LCK: 24

CHR: 1

Combat Adds: 34

He can fight with a sword or dagger, and knows the Fly Me and Yassa Massa spells. He wears cloth armor.

The GM should play him as very mean and angry. He thinks life has been really unfair to him, and he takes it out on his victims, especially on the Vampyres he destroys.

Copyright © 2012, 'Mad' Roy Cram
Artwork is free for use clip art