Path of the Vampire forum

I’ll start it tonight, then. I have a list of Tierney things to do! I look forward to this, and apologize for the grouchy demifae ahead of time.

Also as a side note: I know I’ve said this before, but, if you have any questions and concerns regarding of the game play either through roleplay or grid, please contact any us to avoid any misunderstandings. I understand completely that having your characters hit can be jarring, but I promise we aren’t awful people and we’d like to show it if given the chance.

I'm looking forward to it too! (and the grouchy demifae lol )

Thanks for the side note- I'm not worried, it is all part of the fun!

Okay, guys! I am so, so, so glad to see people engage in this, and can't wait to get it all underway!

With that said, I know some people aren't quite certain how the power Dark Theurgy works, so I wanted to address it for the future stories we have planned.

Paladin + Sorcerer
Using one of your physical weapons, attack any vampire no matter where they are. Cannot cause critical hits.
Anima cost: 4

Notes: Yes, this only works on vampires. It can only be used once per day (or until they move) as it acts just like a skirmish attack. From a roleplay perspective, the attack is almost like a voodoo doll (without any voodoo involved). The attack transfers from thin air, into the body of the target. There are no portals involved.

Your character won't see the person that did it, as they aren't there. When the power is used, we get:

With a great deal of effort and concentration, you use your dual-class powers to strike at thin air and transfer the attack to your target's location.

On our end, so your character would see absolutely nothing -- other than whatever wound the attack created suddenly appearing on their form. How that works for misses would be perhaps you felt something brush your clothing or skin.

I hope that helps, and that everyone continues to have fun!

Out of curiosity, how is this hunter group identifying their targets? There are a lot of people in Harper Rock; they aren't all vampires. Are they just throwing Dark Theurgy at everyone to see what sticks, or do they have another method?

...or are they just leaving a trail of misidentified bodies in their wake?

Dex wrote:Out of curiosity, how is this hunter group identifying their targets? There are a lot of people in Harper Rock; they aren't all vampires. Are they just throwing Dark Theurgy at everyone to see what sticks, or do they have another method?

...or are they just leaving a trail of misidentified bodies in their wake?

It varies, really.

DT is only harmful to vampires so when they throw it at a human character or a fae character there's an answer for a bigger concern. Vampire hunter allows for them to gather names at random with random locations, which they can record. This, paired with the hacking that Tierney does, as well as more task orientated information gathering.

Paladin also have collective recognition and salience. Blood thieves also have a bit of a tingle spidey (vampy) sense if they've done it long enough. There's also an RP Power available called Sense Undead, which would allow for you to roleplay it.

Sense Undead wrote:After much practice, and more than a little bit of sixth sense attunement, you can spot a vampire on sight. Roleplay only.

From there, you also have the Chapter 8 update to consider here, with The Father of Monsters. It's becoming more and more common for everyone to use conventional means to hunt, like mirrors, etc.

Tierney wrote:It varies, really.

DT is only harmful to vampires so when they throw it at a human character or a fae character there's an answer for a bigger concern. Vampire hunter allows for them to gather names at random with random locations, which they can record. This, paired with the hacking that Tierney does, as well as more task orientated information gathering.

Paladin also have collective recognition and salience. Blood thieves also have a bit of a tingle spidey (vampy) sense if they've done it long enough. There's also an RP Power available called Sense Undead, which would allow for you to roleplay it.

Sense Undead wrote:After much practice, and more than a little bit of sixth sense attunement, you can spot a vampire on sight. Roleplay only.

From there, you also have the Chapter 8 update to consider here, with The Father of Monsters. It's becoming more and more common for everyone to use conventional means to hunt, like mirrors, etc.

What happens if Dark Theurgy is used against an invalid target? Does it just fail outright, or might the target notice something akin to when it misses? Does the hunter know why it failed, or do they just think they missed?

With the other identifying tactics, how likely are false positives? For example:
1) I read a recent post from Talia, for example, where some NPC vampires kept mistaking the Blood Thief for another vampire; given the power set and the vampire blood in their system, that seems like a reasonable mistake.
2) There are some humans wandering around who are ex-vampires, having regained their mortality by spawning an evil shade doppelgänger that attacks people while wearing their face.

Both examples are arguably vampire-y enough to trigger whatever spider-sense the hunter is relying on too, with potentially tragic consequences.

1) I read a recent post from Talia, for example, where some NPC vampires kept mistaking the Blood Thief for another vampire; given the power set and the vampire blood in their system, that seems like a reasonable mistake.

This one I can address. That post was written based upon a battle report with a Disciple Necromancer. On-grid, NPC don't take into account the path of the character they're attacking and will attempt to use powers against them even if they don't work. I figured it'd be something fun to write. But that's also why I wrote it in the way I did - without giving the Disciple a chance to actually concentrate and see if she was actually a vampire or not. She did use a power on him first so, it'd make since for him to assume.

Paladins aren't likely to mistake Talia for a vampire as she wouldn't give them that pit churning feeling they get around the undead fanged ones.

Honestly, I haven’t given that much thought into the grid mechanic. Again, it varies.

Blood thieves and cured humans are still humans, nor are they vampire-y through game mechanics. If appraised, they’re still a subsection of human. When it gets to that point, it’s more of a plot driven decision on where to go and how to react. It’s why we encourage players to reach out and talk with us, because it’s where roleplay comes into play.

For example, Every calls Amalea a half-vampire all the time, but she also is very aware if she gets stabbed through the heart, she’s going to be losing her best friend. She’s not going to mistake someone with a heartbeat for someone without it.

In regards to mistaken identity, I actually do have experience based off a shade attacking her. Tierney is aware of Lancaster being a cured human.

What happens if Dark Theurgy is used against an invalid target? Does it just fail outright, or might the target notice something akin to when it misses? Does the hunter know why it failed, or do they just think they missed?

She’s still tried to attack him for being on the bounty list with Dark Theurgy.

The grid mechanic responds with this:

You cannot use this power on non-vampires.

I write it off as the magic cannot be completed, therefore they’re human and her spiritual energy will not allow her to harm him, or any other human based character (pure, fae, sorcerer, paladin, etc), using that particular power. Nothing stops her from going to where she knows he hangs out and hitting him with a blast of hot air short of him not being there. If she can find him, she’s going to hit him.

If the attack misses, she’s unaware until checking wounds and then it’s like, “Well, ****.”

As some have noticed, Tierney is causing trouble again.

The power that she's using is Chi Maelstrom, which is a sorcerer mastery power.

Increase blood of all living creatures in your area by 1, and decrease blood of undead creatures by 1. Also weakens NPCs in the area for 1 hour.
(All undead NPCs in the area will start with -1 blood for one hour.)

It's written with description as:

You close your eyes and begin to raise a whirlwind of purifying energy in the area, damaging all undead here but revitalising anything living.

The way that I write it as Tierney doing so in roleplay is that she's using her magic to force life into those that are living while removing it from the undead. If you have any questions, want to write anything, etc let me know!

I absolutely love this! I'll check in with my characters that were hit with it and see if there's anything for us to write. I'll keep you updated!