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Discussion: Roleplaying a Vampire

Tags: #RP Discussion 
  • Member
    August 27, 2017

     

    So Vampires in Skyrim are kinda lame. Especially since Dawnguard removed the Stage 4 drawback of getting attacked on sight. why even feed now? you know the thing Vampires do to stay sane and powerfull in any other game or series. you dont feel like a Vampire you just feel like a pale dude who mildly dislikes the Sun, which makes Harkons ambition kinda silly. He's going on and on About the Tyranny of the Sun, dude just go outside it is not that bad you Crybaby.

     

     So i wanted to do the Same thing i did for Mages for the Vampires, an open discussion for everyone to write down the quirky things they do to Make Vampires more interesting.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    It's funny you start this now, was thinking last night how I might want to check out the Vampire Mechanics Overhaul on my Xbone. This mod is new to consoles and in it Vampires are at their strongest when well-fed, and at their weakest when under-fed.

    That aside, TES V's mechanics are much less exacting than TES IV's. Man, I remember fast travelling too far and died upon arrival due to the distance exposing me to daylight for 8HP damage/second. Yet in so reducing that penalty, they have encouraged the blood-starved powers.

    That said, though, I did like paying a vamp once or twice, and keeping my character well-fed was a nightly ritual. There is something quite intimate and taboo about the bite that is a fun RP exercise. To steal into someone's dwelling during the witching hour, unseen, unheard and unoticed by all save the sixth sense of cat, to then seduce the victim and dine upon them purely for one's own pleasure before leaving again as quietly as you arrived, can in itself be a poignant moment. Regardless as to the benefit or drawback mechanically, there is an experience to be had.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

     

    Oh i played Oblivion. got myself stuck in a auto save loop :D i was a vampire and used fast travel to a camp site in the middle of nowhere just a few tents stood there. i forgot to save before since it was qite early game. I fast travel i spawn game saves i die due to Sunlight :D. i would load the game and instantly die :D 

     

    I love Vampires they are my favorit Super natural Creature. My Favorite Character out of every type of Media is Dracula. so it pains me to see how Skyrim handles them :/.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    Vezrabuto said:

     

    Oh i played Oblivion. got myself stuck in a auto save loop :D i was a vampire and used fast travel to a camp site in the middle of nowhere just a few tents stood there. i forgot to save before since it was qite early game. I fast travel i spawn game saves i die due to Sunlight :D. i would load the game and instantly die :D 

     

    I love Vampires they are my favorit Super natural Creature. My Favorite Character out of every type of Media is Dracula. so it pains me to see how Skyrim handles them :/.

    Oblivion vampirism was a nightmare, as were its glitches :D I hear you about the favourite supernatural creature thing too, for a long time Dracula was a yearly read for me. Every autumn I would dig it out and read, always hankering for Whitby fish and chips at the point in the tale when the Demeter gets washed ashore with the corpse of the captain lashed to the wheel. The movie with Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder was pretty sexy and romantic, playing upon that taboo and intimacy rather well, or so I thought as a teen. Not sure what the adult me would say after watching now.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    As much as it is pointless and a bit of a faff, feeding as a vampire is one of the funnest roleplay things in Skyrim to me. Especially when you don't fast travel and restrict how much you travel, so when you get to a location you know you have to feed there, no running off to a nearby bandit camp to have a cheeky pint of the red stuff. That's when the stalking, the skulking, the being creepy and generally evil begins. It's also a great exercise in determining what your character is like. Are they the suave charmer type, in which case I'd chat to someone at the local inn (or in the streets if none is available) and then follow them back to their place as if we're gonna have sexy times, before drinking their blood. OR is the traditional vampire life for you, sneaking in to a residence like an addict, desperate for your next fix and willing to risk it all to get it (like getting your fix in the guards quarters). Then, as ever, morality gets involved. Do you feed off the easiest target, who is more than likely to be an innocent, nieve individual? Or do you only go for the scoundrels and the murderers, the ones who actually deserve it? Like a superhero, but instead of saving innocents by beating up baddies you save them from yourself by draining some other bloke.

    And if we take a little inspiration from Twilight (bloody hell, now I'm looking to Twilight for roleplay ideas... kill me) there's the whole relationship shebang to deal with. How do you go about creating a meaningful relationship with someone when you're hiding a large and potentially dangerous secret? Can you? And if you've already got someone back home, do you hide your affliction, for how long, or are they already coolio with it? And why are they?

    Then there's the Dawnguard 'fix', because apparently Bethesda thought that one of the most interesting and tense-situation inducing parts of the game wasn't really appealing to anybody. It does let you have some fun with creating your own Stage 4 effects though, especially if you want to roleplay being part of a clan. Maybe your hunger progresses to such a degree that you start eating the flesh as well as drinking blood? Or perhaps the frenzy is so strong that it doesn't matter who it is, you have to drink their blood NOW (relationships become interesting here). Is it possible for the character to revert back after becoming so close to the darkness, or are they now lich-like in their evilness and their abhorence for humanity? Permanance is a scary thing in a long playthrough, made worse by the fact that Skyrim is usually so open and adaptable when it comes to character development, but it adds an interesting and exciting dynamic that can alter playthroughs massively.

    You gave me a chuckle talking about Harkon. I mean c'mon dude, its really not that bad, you even send agents out in the daylight and they do fine. Eh, I see it as another opportunity. How about having to wear certain robes in order to hide from the light completely (and maybe there's a process to wearing/preparing these, soaking them in some special concoction like the Chalice etc.), maybe the more powerful the blood the more the sun hates it (ala previous titles) etc?

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    @Zonnon Iprefer the Dracula style, whooing someone over with hypnosis and alter their mind so they beg you to bite them. The Stalker junkie would be Awesome if you could like lets say bite 1 person 3 times and they die, would make a great Assassin playthrough.

     

    I usually do it that the hunger stages change the personality. 

    Stage 1 youre fine you can take a bit of Sunlight and you dont look to different from a Human.

    Stage 2: you're starting to feel the itch, would be coolio to have a sip now. you get a little ticked off like a smoker who hasnt smoked in a while

    Stage 3: Ok this is getting bad you start to lash out at people for greeting you and youre appearance gets worse. baggy eyes wrinkly skin. 

    Stage 4: OK I NEEEEEED IT. the next human you see will be feeded upon and killed with vampiric drain. you pass out for about a hour after that youre body has to calm down from the stress.

     

    Clothing should cover everything, gloves boots robe hood. just dont stay out to long you'll get hot really fast.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    Also dont get gaught by anyone. if they see you feeding either kill them or flee the city dont even pay the fine. since if you pay up, a stay in that location, every guard knows youre a vampire the one that saw you and the whole Jarl court probably too. and in no time everyone knows it and you arent save anymore.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

    As much as it is pointless ... etc?

    Zonnon, that's a great post, lots of detail and angles there.

    Vezrabuto said:

    Also dont get gaught by anyone. if they see you feeding either kill them or flee the city dont even pay the fine. since if you pay up, a stay in that location, every guard knows youre a vampire the one that saw you and the whole Jarl court probably too. and in no time everyone knows it and you arent save anymore.

    I'm the same, tbh. Once the fine is demanded for something like that, immersion is blown so it's reload time. Getting caught and fleeing can also be a good RP moment, perhaps dictating that you can never go back to that city without a disguise. That said, nobody seems to know about Sybil Stentor's secret, her hood workss for her in the same way Clark Kent's glasses do for him, it would seem. Hoods make great vampire disguises and a handy sunshade.

  • Member
    August 27, 2017

    Yeah hood or a mask. I actually noticed that Serana puts a hood on when you are in the sun with her ^^ 

     

    Stentor is the perfect example. i think she is a Cyrodiilic Vampire. in Cyrodiil lives 1 vampire clan that gained the appearance of a normal human from Clavicus Vile. they focus on high status and to have a strong influence in the country and she was Toryggs court mage. she knew him since he was a baby. i bet she had her fingers in alot of Toryggs decisions.

  • Member
    August 28, 2017

    Paws said:

    Zonnon, that's a great post, lots of detail and angles there.

    Cheers man! I've played enough vampires in my time to have got a few half-decent ideas here and there.