Useful for Ravenloft?

[Ultramyth]

Hey, I'm feeling a bit uneasy about this, because this is a product I made, and I've hummed and harred for a couple of weeks whether or not to mention it here. I've written a book, The Immortal: Vampires, that's compatible with Ravenloft. It draws from the vampire myths of the world and presents alot of vampire variants from actual folklore.

I know many of you might argue that Ravenloft's got enough vampires. But many of these are low powered, ideal for the setting, and in many cases, revanant-like beings that simply return from the dead and slowly kill off their family members. They make for excellent mysteries. There's some higher powered stuff in there too, all for the d20 system, and similar to ravenloft, it introduces the idea of age categories, and employs a system that allows you to create your own vampire from scratch using a slew of new and old powers.

I really feel there's stuff in there for Ravenloft players and DMs, so feel free to check it out by clicking on the pic.



If you do decide you want a copy, and you only want the pdf, use this link, it's discounted for Ravenloft players.

[Joël of the FoS]

I just downloaded it: wow! You should say it's nearly 140 pages

I've browsed through it quickly, and it seems to be the best vampire reference while we crave for a third edition of the VRGttV

I'll let you know when I read it, but so far, it looks quite good.

Joël

[Ultramyth]

Wow, thanks, I didn't expect such well reception actually. As a Ravenloft gamemaster, I was designing it with campaign use in mind. Hope you enjoy it, and btw, thanks for your patronage! Let me know.

[Joël of the FoS]

Don't judge a book by its cover, even if this cover is great

I've read it yesterday and my recommendation is : buy !

If you have read the 1800's vampire novels, as well as modern ones, this book will please you. It explores many facets of "classic" literature vampirism, each with its own personality and tailored abilities. It also features different vampire folklore from our world.

There is about 40 pages on vampirism discussion, variant rules, abilities, etc. Then about 50 pages on new vampires types, and most can be used with low-level PCs.

A worthy companion to the VRGttV to get the flavor, and this netbook to get the 3rd ed stats and other cool ideas.

Joël

[Ultramyth]

Glad you liked it.

[Steve Miller]

:::makes a note on his "To Buy" list:::

[Charney]

Will it become available in hard print? I'm not too keen on pdf purchases even if cheaper.

[Joël of the FoS]

Hello Steve, Nice to see you back. I have a few questions on your ebook mind over matter - I will make a new thread about it today, hope you'll find the time to answer these.

Charney: I sent the pdf file to a place where they print stuff, and asked them to print one copy for me. At 0,06$ a page x 137 page, it isn't very costly and I think a good solution.

Joël

[Ultramyth]

Ah, guys, the book is available in POD (Print on Demand) for 15.95 from RPGNow. It's high quality, and is quick, done through Lulu publishing.

I got a batch of them today. Colour cover, greyscale interior. US based delivery.

Check the link to RPGNow in the first page if you want a print.

Joel, the best I think can be done for you is to get a $5 discount off the print version because you're a pdf customer.

[Ultramyth]

Any follow ups?

[Rhuvein]

Wow, the preview/demo was really excellent! Well done.

Regards,

Rhvuein.

[Joël of the FoS]

Here's a longuer review:


The Immortal, a book on vampires

Author: Ben Mowbray
Type: Accessory – monsters
Format: 136 pages, PDF netbook
Release date: 2005

Summary of content: a netbook developing vampires and their powers

This good sized netbook is all about vampires. While not made for Ravenloft in mind, many of its features can be inserted in a Ravenloft campaign. The main thing I liked is that many of these vampire strains are low powered, and easy to adapt to a campaign with proper background.

Ben has read the 1800's vampire novels, as well as modern ones, and he offers many templates derived from literature, like the great Carmillite vampire (from the LeFanu’s Carmilla novel). The author explores many facets of "classic" literature vampirism, each with its own personality and tailored abilities. It also features different vampire folklore from our world.

The book content in more details:

• 5 pages on vampire literature review, offering more on vampirism in ancient lore and classic vampire novels.

• 35 pages on the vampire monster, providing more options on roleplaying vampires, feeding, lair, wealth, vampire psychology.

This part deconstructs the CR of the monster manual vampire, enabling a DM to tailor a vampire for his own campaign with great ease. It also proposes new vampire powers and weaknesses, using the same method, making it easy to set the CR of a new vampire. The same table is made with age categories, and a list of salient powers with each age category.

Follows it is a short discussion on a vampire’s soul, appearance, notes on sleeping and feeding requirement, becoming a vampire, blood draining, etc.

Most of these discussions are interesting to read and offer good options. The list of powers is endless and surely would fit any DM’s need for something new about blood suckers.

• 60 pages of new vampire strains follow. 25 types of vampire are discussed, like the Algul (low level encounter: a ghoul-like vampire), Baobban Sith (an enthralling, dancing fey, waiting for you to get charmed to drain you), Cambion (son of an incubus!), the great Carmillite Vampire (a vampire that likes to charm and deceive), Demonic Vampire and Incubus/Succubus, Dhampir, Master Vampire (think Stoker’s Dracula), Nosferatu (think Stoker’s Dracula’s brides), Romantic Vampire (Anne Rice’s vampires), etc.

An the book covers vampires from the world: Ch’ing Shih (China), Dearg-Due (Celtic), Draugr (Scandinavia), Estrie (Hebrew), Lamia (Greece), Langsuir (Malaysia), Necurat (Romania), Rakshasa (India), Strigoi Mort (Romania), Upier (Poland), Vampir (Serbia), Vrykolakas (Greece), Zmeu (Moldavia). This material is good inspiration for Ravenloft, but as well good material for MotRD.

Most of these monsters are well made and can be easily inserted in Ravenloft, and many can be used with low-level PCs.

• The last part of the netbook is about well known vampire NPC (Carmilla, Dracula, Ruthren (from Polidori’s The Vampyre), Varney (from Rymer’s Varney the Vampire) and vampiric gods (the first being Egyptian vampire gods, inspired by Rice I guess).

The art is fun, naïve and mostly enhance the book (the Lilith picture is … interesting). The cover is great, I like it a lot.

For Ravenloft: The book is a worthy companion to the VRGttV, as this netbook offers many ideas and 3rd ed stats. Recommended.

It is available at www.DriveThruRPG.com

[Charney]

Wow! Sounds really well done. Looks like you did a great job Ultramyth

[Ultramyth]

I pride myself in my work. I deliberately stayed clear from repeating salient powers found in the RLPHB. They should be fully compatible with the setting (though there are 10 suggested age categories). I am a rice fan, and didn't ignore adding similar vampires for the powerful end of the scale (epic foes).

The vampire gods are all original, though I guess you could say that Ankarii certainly shares traits with rice's akasha, but actually she has more in common with the actual goddess Isis.

If you're interested, be sure to scroll up. The link here offers cheaper prices for FOS forum members.