How would you make a vampire?

Hmmm...

What I see as a vampire is a creature of darkness that feeds on people... Thats the basic concept...

Powersets

Dark Melee is the powerset for it... play with the colors and make the effects on the draining attacks resemble blood, while trying to minimize the effects on the other attacks.

As they are stealthy, i suggest Dark Armor. But dont take the Fire Resistant power (one of the classical vampire vulnerabilities). The stealth power could be mist-colored, to appease the traditional vampiric image.

Powerpools

Fitness. Vampires are always sold as resilient and tireless, so its a first pick.

For movement, there is a few approaches:

1) Classical Bat Vampire. Take Flight and place some Demon Wings.
2) Mystical Vampire. For the elusive There-Not There bloodsucker, use Teleportation.
3) Eastern Vampire. Those pesky and bouncy Vamps could only use Superjump.
4) Modern Vampire. As enhanced and agile beings, superspeed mirrors the superior movement and reaction power.

I would make a mix... Superspeed+Combat Jumping covering a very modern approach of enhanced muscles and skills...

Or just use Ninja Run...

I should probably clarify one thing: I'm looking for an aristocrat FIRST, vampire SECOND. Just approximating a vampire isn't really enough for me, as stripped of their humanity, Vampires are basically just monsters, which is a type of character I REALLY don't like. As such, I want a vampire, as that brings the cool, but I can't sacrifice the nobleman, as that brings in the human element, which is what ultimately makes the vampire interesting.

Dracula, for instance, wouldn't be nearly as interesting if he operated like a slasher. Which is why, with all due respect, Castlevania's Dracula is so unappealing as a concept. He's about as subtle as a brick to the head, indeed. Part of what makes Alucard much more interesting is that Alucard retains much of his humanity for the most part, and even faces several actual moral dilemmas along the way. He's a vampire, true, and he can teleport, fly, transform, cast spells, heal and so on. But at the end of the day, he still looks, sounds and acts like a nobleman.

I keep seeing Dark Melee, and I actually see that every time the topic comes up. The Vampyri use it, as well, which is an even stronger argument. And it fits, true. But while it fits with the mythos, it doesn't have the kind of visual appeal I'm after.

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Well... if you want to think aristocrat.... Nothing beats a nice and regal-looking Broadsword.

I know many vampire toons, and they're all pretty varied in powersets.

But one that I think was interesting was the Thugs/Dark MM that's serving as a villain in my VG's RP Plot.

The idea is that he's trying to raise an army of Ghouls and Blood Bonded Vampires, so Thugs just fit with the whole "Modern Vampire" thing.

Just to throw in a different spin, and since your looking for a badass, up close and personal fighting vamp, you might try an Axe or Warmace / DA Brute. I'm currently reading the Sookie Stackhouse / True Blood from HBO series of books and one of the main vampires is a thousand year old viking vampire named Erik. And Warmace, there are alot of neat maces to chose from, maybe go with a bone or shovel. Just a thought.

Two things Sam either wait till BS comes over to villain side then make a BS/DA brute or make a BS/DA scrapper then have him go rogue once GR comes out.

As a bit of a departure from the topic: Holy carp! DM/WP is a freakin' great combination for a brute! (at least at low levels)

Carry on!

For the kickass fighter I think Martial Arts would be pretty good

I made a vampire blueside and he was a dark/Regen scrapper. Plenty of ways people can go with it IMO.

Wait for Dual pistols. Or try Dual blades. The spins and pirouttes wont look so OTT on a being that can move like greased lightning. DP might not have the staying power a scrapper, sadly, but... yeah.

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Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Has anyone mentioned Claws yet? Yeah, I know, they're a bit too Wolverine-ish for the aristocratic vampire Sam's envisioning, just throwing all the ideas out there. My vampire was a Claws/Dark Scrapper, using Fly along with the cloak for the mist form. As much as I loved C:SotN, my main influences were BloodRayne and Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Claws were not perfect, as the ones we have are all blaringly obviously NOT natural talons, but it didn't bother me much as the character wasn't really a fully-embraced vampire, long story, so I wrote it off as her being simply familiar with that fighting style although she lacked actual claws. However, when the Science pack allowed size changes, one of her "costumes" was a Gangrel-ish 8-foot Huge wolf-beast thing, and the claws on that model DID look more like talons, due to the clipping.

Sadly, as you'll probably note from all the past-tense usage, the character is no more. I don't like Dark Armor at all, sorry, not gonna slam it as I know it can be very good, but it doesn't work for me. I rolled up another Claws Scrapper, and now my sorta-vampire languishes as a name holder. (Never fear, I seriously doubt it's one you'd want.) I already have pretty much all the combinations mentioned so far tied up in other characters, or they're for Villains and she's a goodie, so she's waiting to see if GR brings any appropriate sets. If somebody digs /Dark though, Claws/Dark's not bad.

Hmm, perhaps the Flat Blade style claws? Not bad, but the Claws stance is what hurts the "elegant aristocrat" image.

Now Sam, remember you did ask how would we make a vampire. It's cool to focus on your own slant as well, but let's not lose sight that there's more than one way to skin a politician... er cat.

Yeah, Primal, I was going to point out the same things... The option of claws, even the flat blade variety (Could work well as a sophisticated set of blades cleverly set up on the forearms... or magical artifacts.... or represent something natural)... but then I was also going to point out that the claws stance just doesn't entirely work (Although, claws can indeed work for a vampire for someone... let's face it, there are a lot of working options).

For the frontline bad ****, I'd say Brute (Or Scrapper if one wanted to be on blueside for now)...
Katana/DA is great... DM/DA is great...

Anyways... I have a DM/DA Brute...
So, when I made a vampire (More from the 1921 Nosfaratu / Bram Stoker Dracula... maybe a tiny bit of Lost Boys... sort of)... I actually ended up making a Dark/Pain Corruptor.

Now, I'd never had a corruptor before. So, I'm not all that familiar with how each AT plays out. They seemed damaging and powerful enough to me at the time, at the low levels I've played them.

I play the character in a duo... two Dark/Pain Corruptors (nearly the same build on both... just a few individual choices).
We have a blast playing them. We feel pretty damn powerful when we do it (haven't pulled them out in a bit though, this is making me want to, hehe).

Clearly, most everything is represented with those powers.

I still think I could go with a Dark/Dark Brute or a Kat/Dark Brute (maybe claws) plus GW patron powers.

For my Vamp:
I took Hurdle and Health and Stamina (The hurdle instead of swift, simply because having that ability to naturally jump so much higher feels SOOO right).

I took Flight. I do have a demon-bat monster form, but they also fly in human form. Since getting the science booster, I may mess around with other options.

I took stealth, invis and phase shift (I think).
And we went for GW's Patron Powers.

Based on my DM/DA Brute... I really think Cloak Of Darkness works well.
The one thing about both the Dark/Pain Corruptor and the DM/DA Brute is that the feel of those powersets really work well for the feel I wanted and like as a vampire.
I get the feeling that would hold true with a Katana/DA as well (I was really close to choosing that myself).
Dark/Dark Brutes have a very strange and cool, messing-with-your-victim feel, that works quite sinisterly... and if I didn't already have one, I very likely would have chosen it for the Vamp.

And nothing feels so good as when I steal/drain the last bit of health out of an enemy with my corrupter vampire. It's like the feeding.

And we even use some of the Pain buffs only as a feeding frenzy state sort of thing.

I have a nice cape and top hat outfit.
However, I've found myself usually wearing the hooded cloak outfit.
I cant seem to just ignore the sun thing with vampires (Just doesn't feel right to me).

So, I always stay covered up with the hood in daylight... And with this game's crazy day/night cycle... It seems like the time out-of-the-hood and cloak, while outdoors, is very infrequent, hehe.

However... I distinctly recall dropping the hood while feeding on all the Carnies in St. Marshal in the dark... It felt sooooo very right somehow.

Pretty sure a Dominator version could work in there too.

It definitely depends on the aspect that the player wants to exemplify.



Now... Here's the real question...
What origin?

Natural - A Vampire's powers are a part of the nature of a Vampire. SImply... a Vampire's powers are natural for a Vampire.

Magic - A Vampire's power comes from a magical curse/pact. Possibly a curse from a god-like being, sent down upon a powerful mortal that defied that greater being so vehemently, the mortal gained both a curse and terribly great power.

Mutant - A Vampire's powers come from a mutation that passes from one to another, through the blood. Somewhat like a disease that mutates the formerly normal being and gives them super powers... Or is that Science?

Hehe... Honestly, the origins can be used and explained in so many different ways for many concepts (not just Vampires).

Sometimes I pick an origin based on what inherent power I'd want that character to have. Throwing knives seems right for some characters, regardless of the origin of their power.
Other times, I try to fit the guidelines the game provides for the origins and work with that.

What origin is your vampire?
Seems like they could be anything but tech (And, sure. someone could come up with justification for giving their Vampire a tech origin as well... but traditionally speaking... it seems like any but tech could work)

Vampires have had so many, many powers associated with them it's really going to boil down to which ones you want to emphasise, and you could probably make a case for using any of the powersets. That said if I was going to make a vampire, I would go for:

Stalker
To represent a nightstalker with an uncanny ability to prey on it's victims (hide), elude from it's captors (placate), and going for that oh so precious jugular (AS and increased crits %).

Dark Melee
It's got everything, from the signature Siphon Life, the mind control aspects in Touch of Fear, and the ability to summon unholy powers in Midnight Grasp.

I'm not sure why you are so hung up on thinking Dark Melee isn't 'badass' and is too refined, Slayer from the Guilty Gear series encompasses both aspects, all the while punching his opponents into a bloody mess.

Regeneration
Again, the fast regeneration another signature power, but also Dull Pain to represent a vampire's unnatural resiliency to attacks, Revive from when they come back from the 'dead', and MoG for when they seem unnaturally untouchable to their attackers.

You could also look at recolouring the click powers to give a red glow, to indicate a sudden blood rush.

Leviathan Mastery
Spirit Shark and the Jaws version can represent a vampire's control over animals, Water Spout for weather control, Summon Guardian for their tendency to have subservient lackeys, and Hibernation for when they rest and regenerate all of their damage near instantly.

I'm unsure if you are able to recolour Hibernate to make it more visually fitting, unless you're going for a pirate vampire.

Power Pools
Flight's obvious, and you've already mentioned the benifits of the TP pool as well.

Edit: I would also make a case for the Super Speed pool as well actually, Hasten and SS for their incredible speeds, and Whirlwind if you're crazy enough, to represent their ability to transform into an 'elemental' form.

(QR to OP)

Honestly? I wouldn't, unless it was for some kind of parody. Vampires are even more overdone than Wolverine, and that's no mean feat.

People saying stuff is overdone is overdone. Make what you want.

Kin/Dark/Psi Defender

This will play very Vampirish with all the health and stamina drains, plus you get Hypnosis.