Sunday, September 15, 2013

A Look At Accursed Dhampirs


Dhampirs are the half-vampires of the Accursed setting, created by the Blood Witch. Dhampirs are described in the Accursed Player's Guide is being agile, sure-footed and charming. I decided to play around with character generation a little bit and take a closer look at Dhampirs.

Any of the Accursed can choose to accept or defy their nature, embracing the power of their Witchmark or struggle against it. The more you embrace the Witchmark as a Dhampir, the more vampiric you become. The more you struggle against it, the more human you become (which is how it works with all of them). So I created two Accursed Dhampirs: Both have done horrible, horrible things since gaining their Witchmark...one embracing his nature and the other fighting it.

KHALOS THE BUTCHER

Khalos gained a reputation for his rage and his brutality in The Bane War. To this day his name is cursed and though he fights the minions of The Blood Witch, he has few friends. This isolation has driven him down a dark path, and while he will never serve The Blood Witch again, fighting monsters has indeed transformed him into one. He flies into a berserker rage in combat, summons wolves to fight by his side, can consume blood to make himself stronger and cuts a horrible swath with his scythe, Bloodletter. However, his vampiric nature forces him to move under the cover of darkness, holy ground makes him incredibly uncomfortable and he must feast on blood in order to survive. His time in the Bane Wars have given him astonishing resolve and his is a great boogeyman to stalk the Blood Witch's banes...but has he crossed the point of no return?

Name: Khalos the Butcher
Witchbreed: Dhampir
Rank: Veteran (2 advances)

Agility: d10
Smarts: d6
Spirit: d8
Strength: d8
Vigor: d8

Charisma: +1
Pace: 7
Parry: 8
Toughness: 8(2)

Acceptance/Defiance: Final Stage Acceptance

Skills
Climbing d4
Fighting d10
Gambling d4
Guts d8
Intimidation d8
Notice d6
Riding d4
Streetwise d6
Tracking d8

Hindrances
Mean
Vulnerability to Holy Ground (Minor)
Wanted (Major)

Edges
Berserk
Blood Fury
Call to the Wild (Wolves)
Grand Coven Veteran
Sweep
Trademark Weapon (Bloodletter)

Racial Package
  Dark Charm (Charisma +2)
  Graceful (D6 Agility)
  Keen Senses (D6 Notice)
  Low Light Vision
  Nimble (+1 Parry)
  Wood Weakness (+4 from wood)
  Enemy (Blood Witch)
  Blood Hunger

Witchmark
  Witchbreed Sense
  Drawn to Those In Need
  Witchspeak
  Warning
  Stage 1 Acceptance (-1 to all rolls in sunlight, +1 to Pace)
  Stage 2 Acceptance (Parry increases to +2, -1 to attack rolls against Dhampir, double damage from wood, need blood to survive)
  Stage 3 Acceptance (-2 to all rolls in sunlight, need invitation to enter homes, Agility increases by one die type, Charisma +1, abilities that affect blood gain +2 against Dhampir)

Gear

Scythe (Str+d6) (Parry -1, +1 to attack rolls, Reach 1, 2 hands), Reinforced Great Coat (+2 armor)

Liam the Penitent

Whereas Khalos revels in who he is, Liam is haunted by the things he's done under the influence of the Witchmark. The horrors he has seen - and committed - have forged him into an unflappable agent against evil, one who is taking his soul back one piece at a time. Damage in combat rarely slows him down, and few things can frighten him at this point in his life. Liam knows that he is owed a horrible death for what he's done, so he seeks it without fear, only hoping to drag as many minions into damnation with him as he can.

Name: Liam the Penitent
Witchbreed: Dhampir
Rank: Heroic

Agility: d8
Smarts: d6
Spirit: d10
Strength: d8
Vigor: d8

Charisma: +2
Pace: 6”
Parry: 7
Toughness: 6

Acceptance/Defiance: Stage 2 Defiance

Skills
Fighting d8
Guts d10
Investigation d6
Knowledge (Enochian Faith) d6
Notice d6
Streetwise d6
Subterfuge d8
Taunt d8
Tracking d6

Hindrances
Death Wish
Heroic
Quirk (Sucker for a Pretty Face)

Edges
Brave
Combat Reflexes
Counterattack
Graceful Leap
Iron Will
Nerves of Steel
Penitent
Relentless

Racial Package
  Dark Charm (Charisma +2)
  Graceful (D6 Agility)
  Keen Senses (D6 Notice)
  Low Light Vision
  Wood Weakness (+4 damage from wood)
  Nimble (+1 Parry)
  Enemy (Blood Witch)
  Blood Hunger

Witchmark
  Witchbreed Sense
  Drawn to Those In Need
  Witchspeak
  Warning
  Bane Sense
  Stage 1 Defiance (Wood damage drops to +2, Dhampir loses Low Light Vision)
  Stage 2 Defiance (Notice skill is reduced 1 step, Dhampir has no Wood Weakness, gains +1 benny each session).

Gear

Longsword (str+d8)

Thoughts:  I really like the available character options. A few oddball Edges and Hindrances are missing (Bloodthirsty, No Mercy, and so on)...stuff that aren't included as part of the setting but that I'll probably add back in myself...but I made it a point to try to create these as close to Rules as Written as possible.

Anyway, that's a look at Dhampirs down. In a day or two, I'll try to sit down and stat up a pair of Golems. If this looks appealing to you, back the Kickstarter. If not, then brace yourself for a few more posts about something that probably doesn't appeal much to you! But I'll try to work some non-Accursed posts in just the same.

Note: I am not affiliated with Melior Via or their Kickstarter in any way, I just really, really like what I've read in the Player's Guide, enough that I've backed the Kickstarter myself.

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