Quick and completely unplaytested rulesetlet I ran up for the season.
The intention is to have this act as an overlay for an otherwise standard DW game in which all players are playing vampire characters. Feedback and notes from anyone able to try it at table very welcome!
Dungeon World Vampires
1. Characters can be assumed to be much stronger, faster and tougher than normal humans, see well in the dark and have enhanced senses. This should be reflected in the fiction.
2. While characters may attack with weapons, they may also attack with claws and fangs with no drawbacks other than range.
3. The Make Camp rules work as usual with one exception:
Characters do not regain hit points upon rest. Instead, vampire characters must drink the blood of the living which functions as a Cure Light Wounds(1d8). Unwilling victims require an appropriate Defy Danger roll to feed from and partial successes and failures may endanger the victim if appropriate. (Progressive advanced moves may allow feeding to act as Cure Moderate, and Cure Critical respectively).
4. Being exposed to Sunlight automatically triggers a Last Breath Move.
5. Characters have a natural 2 Armor against all normal attacks, this stacks with additional armor. Magic penetrates this resistance as does all fire which additionally does double normal damage.
6. Characters must also Defy Danger (with Charisma) to abide an uncontained fire or fire wielded as a weapon, or flee as quickly as possible from the source.
7. A character may also be incapacitated by an opponent wielding a wooden stake. This may either be represented by a coup de gras when the character has been reduced to zero hp, or as a hard move in combat when appropriate. While incapacitated the character can perceive everything that goes on around them but is completely paralyzed and unable to communicate so long as they are staked through the heart.
8. A vampire character can only be permanently destroyed through exposure to sunlight, fire, ritual, or beheading. Even if the character is otherwise completely dismembered they will rise again the next night Hungry, at 1 hp. A hungry character must roll Defy Danger (again with Charisma) to resist feeding on the nearest available target.
9. A character may heal others by allowing them to drink their blood, acting as the above move, even for mortals except the character will loose the amount of hp gained by the drinker. Hirelings can be bonded in this way with the new cost: Blood.
I am a simple man. I see Joshua Faller. I hit like. Now with that aside, I really do enjoy the concept.
RidersOfRohan You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
PS RidersOfRohan, do you have any games ongoing? Love to get to table with you sometime in the not too distant future, and November in Alaska is slow for farmers!
Joshua Faller right now I am running a d&d 5th on my sundays, but plan to run Dungeon World again soon on roll20. I’ll keep an eye out for you, 100%.
Heck yeah
Have you read Paul Riddle’s Undying? It’s amazing and a diceless pbta inspired game all about being vampires.
Nathan Roberts Undying is on my radar, but I’ve never read it. I know that I’m in well tread waters here with extant Dungeon World prestige classes, and Urban Shadows besides. I’ll have to check out Undying
Also check out Monster of the Week
I like a lot of what you’ve done here. You’ve set some great touchstones down in terms of fictional positioning, and this could help many players explore having pretty much any PC become a vampire.
I don’t prefer prescribing a “Defy Danger” roll as the only way to deal with a problem, as in #3, 6, and 8. It took me a long time to shake the urge to think of “Defy Danger” as a saving throw, and this reminds me of that sort of thinking. It also seems to reflect a desire to solve a problem before the PC encounters it, instead of giving them the opportunity to surprise you.
Granted, when the PC is confronted with these dangers, they will likely trigger Defy Danger; but they may do it in a novel way, or perhaps they would have some other move or fictional positioning that supersedes the danger without triggering Defy Danger.
Andrew Fish Thank you, and yes I totally agreed with you that prescribing the Danger to be Defied is pretty weak, and could totally be subbed with custom moves. I definitely welcome any further feedback!
Dungeon Word! 😀