Bringa said:
I read the pedia entry on Alexis, and yes, that does seem to be the way Kael thinks of his vampires. I like the flavour, but still I think it's a little off. It throws off your expectations when you read the word vampire. I still don't see HOW they should eat the souls of their victims; the runes Alexis used merely to imprison the spirit, but then? I still think there should be something special about them to allow them to absorb spirits.
That was early early vampirism in effect. Alexis's experiments, the vampires are much more efficient now.
But you are correct about breaking fantasy stereotypes. We name things after fantasy archetypes so we can draw on the rich flavor that already esists in the players mind. SeZ may make an awesome looking archer unit, but just by giving it the name "Elven Archer" we have suddenly tapped into a flavor and imagination that doesn't really even exist in the game. Add in a few supporting mechanics and suddenly they seem very truely "elven" to the flavor.
It also helps players quickly understand mechanics that fit together with the archetypes. No one wonders "which civ was it that can build cottages in forests?", they just know its the elves. Players find it easier to understand why the Khazad can build awesome siege weapons but no advanced mages. Archetypes help.
So why do we break archetypes?
Because I want to make something new. We are not attempting to recreate D&D, Middle Earth or any of the great fantasy worlds. Our first priority is to make a fun game, the second is to fill it with so much flavor that players find creative gems buried throughout.
As to vampire the real story is that early in my life as a DM I designed a campaign that would include a lot of vampires. Aware that they were going against vampires the players stocked up on all the traditional stuff (they all had the monster manual basically memorized) and their beliefs were confirmed by local rumors as well as some outlandish new rumors into vampiric weaknesses and powers.
They were in for quite a surprise when they confronted one. The message to my players was, forget what you know, Erebus is a new world.
When I went to convert them to FfH we talked a bit about keeping them in their true "Erebus" form or making them more traditional. FfH borrows a lot of inspiration from my D&D campaign, but we dont hesitate to change anything that makes the game better. It isnt an attempt to recreate my D&D world.
But the decision was made to keep them alive because it makes them unique (besides I think Woodelf is in love with Alexis and couldnt stand the thought of her not being a warm body). I think the flavor for them are close enough to the fantasy vampires that the archetypes it creates in your mind still makes sense.
I havent really looked into it but I bet there are "living" vampire examples in popular fantasy (I dont think we made something to awfully unique).
