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[highmax28]

Having played 4e, that's not the same.

You start as a vampire and continue to grow in strength as a vampire. Since multiclassing was a feat thing, and not a level thing, you were always a vampire. It's actually one of the most interesting but probably the most shunned class to use because it doesn't have much versatility, similarly to the elementalist and the blackguard classes.

I would have loved to see it expanded on or even brought back into 5e. The fact of being a vampire outside of a bonus of whatever, and getting stronger that way sounds awesome, and then expand it to other supernatural beings, like Lycanthropes, it would be much cooler.

[Rolan7]

I don't think I understand.  Via Libris Mortis you were a vampire, but it was basically a prestige class you were forced to advance.  I think the "forced to advance" part was detrimental, players should have had a choice, but eh.

What's it like in 4e?  The default vampire template in 3.5e grants some extreme bonuses, so it had to cost a few levels to be at all balanced.

[My Name is Immaterial]

I don't think I understand.  Via Libris Mortis you were a vampire, but it was basically a prestige class you were forced to advance.  I think the "forced to advance" part was detrimental, players should have had a choice, but eh.

What's it like in 4e?  The default vampire template in 3.5e grants some extreme bonuses, so it had to cost a few levels to be at all balanced.

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/vampire#Vampires_in_4E

Ohh so Libris Mortis used the broken Savage Species system... That couldn't have been good.

Savage Species isn't the sort of content you bring to a serious game. It's nacho cheese. You don't bring nacho cheese to a nice classy dinner with your SO's friends, you bring it to watch the game with the guys. You bring brie, or a nice camembert. But, if you bring fancy cheese to the Superbowl party, you're going to get strange looks.
Savage Species is for games when the DM gives out LA like candy, not for any other game. It's silly content for a silly game. SS is great, at the right time.

[Rolan7]

Ah okay, I forgot/didn't know how multiclassing worked in 4e.
Still don't really, but that's alright.

Basically "Vampire" was a class, and you can't change class, just borrow crossclass abilities via feat?
That's cool I guess, particularly since 4th edition is so different that comparing it to other editions is apples to oranges.

But... what if a PC contracts vampirism?

[My Name is Immaterial]

Well, long story short, it doesn't work that way in 4e. There are two ways to create a vampire: creating a vampire spawn or preforming something called the Dark Gift of the Undying, which is easily the stupidest name for a dark ritual that I've ever heard. There's no disease of vampirism, and no way to 'contract' it. Frankly, I don't much like that system, it lacks drama and is clearly setup for set-pieces instead of emergent storytelling.

CREATING VAMPIRE SPAWN
A living humanoid slain by a vampire lord’s blood drain power rises as a vampire spawn of its level at sunset on the following day. This rise can be prevented by burning the body or severing its head.
A living humanoid reduced to 0 hit points or fewer—but not killed—by a vampire lord can’t be healed and remains in a deep, deathlike coma. He or she dies at sunset of the next day, rising as a vampire spawn. A Remove Affliction ritual cast before the afflicted creature dies prevents death and makes normal healing possible.

DARK GIFT OF THE UNDYING
In the unholy name of Orcus, the Blood Lord, you transform another being into a vampiric creature of the night.
Level: 11 (caster must be a vampire lord)
Category: Creation
Time: 6 hours; see text
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 5,000 gp per level of the subject
Market Price: 75,000 gp
Key Skill: Religion
This ritual can be performed only between sunset and sunrise. As part of the ritual, you and the ritual’s subject must drink a small amount of each other’s blood, after which the subject dies and is ritually buried in unhallowed ground. After the interment, you invoke a prayer to Orcus and ask him to bestow the Dark Gift upon the subject. At the conclusion of the ritual, the subject remains buried, rising up out of its shallow grave as a vampire lord at sunset on the following day. (See the Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 181, for rules on creating new vampire lords.) This ritual is ruined if a Raise Dead ritual is cast on the subject or if the subject is beheaded before rising as a vampire lord.
Performing the ritual leaves you weakened for 1d10 days (no save).

[BlackFlyme]

I'd imagine that a Vampire would be immune to vampirism.

Similar note, Pathfinder will be getting a horror book, aptly named Horror Adventures, some time after July. It will be revamping lycanthropes, vampires, and other creatures of the dark, as well as ways for a character to willingly become one. It will also include new rules for sanity and madness, which are fairly lacking as-is. There is also the usual collection of class archetypes, items, and spells, which will also be horror themed.

It will be interesting to see how that will turn out. Especially since I thought that Paizo's answer to playable vampires and were-beasts were the Dhampir and Skinwalker races.

[highmax28]

I'd imagine that a Vampire would be immune to vampirism.

Similar note, Pathfinder will be getting a horror book, aptly named Horror Adventures, some time after July. It will be revamping lycanthropes, vampires, and other creatures of the dark, as well as ways for a character to willingly become one. It will also include new rules for sanity and madness, which are fairly lacking as-is. There is also the usual collection of class archetypes, items, and spells, which will also be horror themed.

It will be interesting to see how that will turn out. Especially since I thought that Paizo's answer to playable vampires and were-beasts were the Dhampir and Skinwalker races.

I thought it was a shot at Revenants and Shifters?

Well, long story short, it doesn't work that way in 4e. There are two ways to create a vampire: creating a vampire spawn or preforming something called the Dark Gift of the Undying, which is easily the stupidest name for a dark ritual that I've ever heard. There's no disease of vampirism, and no way to 'contract' it. Frankly, I don't much like that system, it lacks drama and is clearly setup for set-pieces instead of emergent storytelling.

CREATING VAMPIRE SPAWN
A living humanoid slain by a vampire lord’s blood drain power rises as a vampire spawn of its level at sunset on the following day. This rise can be prevented by burning the body or severing its head.
A living humanoid reduced to 0 hit points or fewer—but not killed—by a vampire lord can’t be healed and remains in a deep, deathlike coma. He or she dies at sunset of the next day, rising as a vampire spawn. A Remove Affliction ritual cast before the afflicted creature dies prevents death and makes normal healing possible.

DARK GIFT OF THE UNDYING
In the unholy name of Orcus, the Blood Lord, you transform another being into a vampiric creature of the night.
Level: 11 (caster must be a vampire lord)
Category: Creation
Time: 6 hours; see text
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 5,000 gp per level of the subject
Market Price: 75,000 gp
Key Skill: Religion
This ritual can be performed only between sunset and sunrise. As part of the ritual, you and the ritual’s subject must drink a small amount of each other’s blood, after which the subject dies and is ritually buried in unhallowed ground. After the interment, you invoke a prayer to Orcus and ask him to bestow the Dark Gift upon the subject. At the conclusion of the ritual, the subject remains buried, rising up out of its shallow grave as a vampire lord at sunset on the following day. (See the Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 181, for rules on creating new vampire lords.) This ritual is ruined if a Raise Dead ritual is cast on the subject or if the subject is beheaded before rising as a vampire lord.
Performing the ritual leaves you weakened for 1d10 days (no save).

We had a player who was a warlock in one of our games, and there was the opportunity to deal with a vampire lord. He wanted to contact vampirism the whole time, but we never got that far (at least, I didn't because I had to leave to go to rehab) but the DM allowed it.

In my 4e game I was Dming, I had a vampire who was all about the RP, and he played the character magnificently until non-vocal RP was involved. He dropped a tree on the only lady in the party who he was just flirting with, he made people think he was gay with the party dragonborn wizard, and he killed himself on accident by drinknig the blood of a guy who was killed by a guy who he knew used poisons. Party Avenger, who was the only one with a heal skill, had to make 3 successes and no failures. He made 2 and failed the last one by one, and thus began the first real player death.

The one thing I noticed with the 4e vampires is they lack any solid paragon paths or epic destinies. And I don't mean unique to them, I mean they had the choice of 4 paragon paths, two of which was available to everyone

[BlackFlyme]

I thought it was a shot at Revenants and Shifters?

Dhampir are directly stated to be born of vampires, and Skinwalkers are descendants of Lycanthropes. Doesn't stop them from being afflicted by those curses, though.

Haven't seen any direct mentions of Revenants or Shifters for this book. I haven't read the product's discussion page however, and sometimes they give sneak-peeks in there. Like the Legacy of Dragons Player Companion, where it was revealed that we'll get a dragon-themed Druid, a Dragon Oracle Mystery, and a Dragon Spirit with dragon-themed Hexes for Shamans and Witches. Many people in that product's discussion thread are screaming for the Dragonborn race and for a dragon-riding Cavalier archetype.

Anyways, here's the Horror product page, if anyone is curious.

Horror Adventures includes:

• Corruptions that can turn your character into a monster, from a blood-drinking vampire to a savage werewolf. The only cost is your very soul!
• Character options to help heroes face the forces of darkness, including horror-themed archetypes, feats, spells, and more!
• Rules for sanity and madness, giving you all the tools you need to drive your characters to the brink and beyond.
• Tips and tools for running a scary game, along with expanded rules for curses, diseases, haunts, and fleshwarping to bring your nightmares to life.
• New templates to turn your monsters into truly terrifying foes, from creatures made from living wax to the stalker that cannot be stopped!
• …and much, much more!

[My Name is Immaterial]

Corruptions that can turn your character into a monster, from a blood-drinking vampire to a savage werewolf. The only cost is your very soul!

The powergamer in my just sat up, and leaned into take a closer look. He likes free power boosts.

[BlackFlyme]

Funny note, Werebears are Lawful Good. The only Good lycanthropes. I can't imagine how it works when the full moon is out, and you lose control over your character.

Similarly, Wereboars are Chaotic Neutral. Every other lycanthrope is some shade of Evil.

[My Name is Immaterial]

Funny note, Werebears are Lawful Good. The only Good lycanthropes. I can't imagine how it works when the full moon is out, and you lose control over your character.

Werebears in humanoid form tend to be stout, well-muscled, and hairy. Their brown hair is thick, and males usually wear beards. They may have reddish, blond, ivory, or black hair, matching the color of their ursine form. They dress in simple cloth and leather garments that are easy to remove, repair, or replace. In their animal form, werebears are moody and grumpy. They desire only their own company and seek out evil creatures to slay.

4e does not have Werebears.

Werebears are powerful lycanthropes with the ability to temper their monstrous natures and reject their violent impulses. In humanoid form, they are large, muscular, and covered in hair matching the color of their ursine form's fur. A were bear is a loner by nature, fearing what might happen to innocent creatures around it when its bestial nature takes over.
When a werebear transforms, it grows to enormous size, lashing out with weapons or claws. It fights with the ferocity of a bear, though even in its bestial forms, it avoids biting so as to not pass on its curse. Typically, a were bear passes on its lycanthropy only to chosen companions or apprentices, spending the time that follows helping the new lycanthrope accept the curse in order to control it.
Solitary creatures, werebears act as wardens over their territory, protecting flora and fauna alike from humanoid or monstrous intrusion. Though most werebears are of good alignment, some are every bit as evil as other lycanthropes.

[BlackFlyme]

Not too far from Pathfinder's version of them.

In their humanoid forms, werebears tend to be muscular and broad-shouldered, with stark facial features and dark eyes. Their hair is usually red, brown, or black, and they look like they are used to a lifetime of hard work. Though by far the most benign of common lycanthropes, werebears are shunned by most normal folk, who fear and mistrust their animal transformations. Most live as recluses in forested areas or in small family units among their own kind. They avoid confrontations with strangers but do not hesitate to drive evil humanoids out of their territory.

Some werebears are angry and violent, because of either temperament or a lifetime of harassment from others, and these mean ones aren’t afraid to put an axe in a trespasser’s face or eat someone who pushes them too far. Cool-headed werebears don’t like to speak of these individuals with strangers.

Even more so than werebear-kin, werebears are natural protectors of the wilderness, and they often associate closely with druids and clerics of nature deities. Although they prefer solitude even more than werebear-kin do, they feel compelled to ensure others benefit from their guidance and magic. Werebears are loners much of the time, but often form small, temporary family units when rearing children. Werebears generally think of all their kin as family, including werebear-kin, and most keep in touch with all family members for security and to share their experiences.

Werebears normally avoid adventure, so adventurers of this species tend to break the mold in more than one way.

Most often, they are restless wanderers who think of the world as their home or failed guardians who survived the destruction of their homes and seek a new purpose or atonement for failure. Others seek out rival lycanthropes in an attempt to reform and support them or, failing that, end the threat they pose to humanity and nature alike.

But an afflicted lycanthrope has no control over themselves when transformed. Unless you are in an Evil party, I can't really see the Werebear really doing much.

[highmax28]

There are werebears in 4e. They're part of a background for Dark Sun campaign. Theres an option to start as a werewolf too, but nothing like the vampire.

With that, you could actually be a vampire/werewolf and it would be the funniest thing ever

[Neonivek]

Wow, the release of Exalted 3rd edition really snuck its way out there fast.

[Kadzar]

Wow, the release of Exalted 3rd edition really snuck its way out there fast.

Looking at it, it is possibly the most expensive new RPG book I've seen, and quite massive, weighing in at 659 pages, just look at this thing:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)