My Vampire is Boring

[A_Gray_Phantom]

So I've got a vampiric general that I recently introduced to my players. They couldn't interact with him much since he was enshrouded with magical darkness for most of the fight, and then peaced out as soon as things got dangerous. That said, I will use him again in future sessions.

The thing is is that he's boring. Originally that was going to be the joke, that he's a cliched vampire cleric named Vlad, and I was going to play up the eastern European stereotypes (accent included). I'm beginning to realize, though, that an ironically boring villain is STILL A BORING VILLAIN.

He just isn't as cool as the chain devil (basically a cenobite) or the swashbuckler mafia I also have in there.

So does anyone have any suggestions to make him more interesting?

The context:

Campaign takes place in a desert theocracy of Wee Jas. The country's economy is based on tourism, schooling (they have a few prestigious universities for training adventurers), and plenty of enthralled zombies that act as free labor.

The intelligent undead, however, are planning on an uprising to claim the land, and zombies, for themselves.

My vampire is a cleric who will be one of the generals in the upcoming war. I'm thinking of making him a cleric of Afflux, who has an army of vampire spawn.

[Durkoala]

My immediate thought is to play up the stereotypes even further and make him a fish-out-of water foreigner who doesn't understand the customs of the country the campaign is set in.
His lackeys have trouble understanding his accent, he's convinced that the best defence for a base is a moat around it (and doesn't listen to people trying to tell him that in most places, you can't sustain a moat in the middle of the desert), he's constantly disparging of the furnishings and architecture around him, frequently gets lost traversing the desert without a guide (which is a good excuse to drop him on the players in out-of-the-way locations) and hates how the humanoid population eats all these spices, camels and goats, which gives their blood a funny taste.

If you feel that makes him too silly, he can probably have some malicious xenophobia added to the mix, with a hatred of the heathen ways of this land and designs on cultural purging.

[Mastikator]

Why is your character going to be a general for the upcoming civil war? I don't mean "because he's undead" but why go against the theocracy? Is he oppressed or privileged and sympathetic? Is it out of revenge, blood lust, justice, fun?
Maybe that there and make a personality that fits a believable reason why he'd risk his life, country and everything for this war.

[King of Nowhere]

Is he a cold calculator or a raving maniac?
Does he care only for personal power, or does he have some higher ideal? Is there something he won't do in his pursuit of power?
How loial is he to the uprising? Can he be persuaded/bribed away from it?

[A_Gray_Phantom]

My immediate thought is to play up the stereotypes even further and make him a fish-out-of water foreigner who doesn't understand the customs of the country the campaign is set in.
His lackeys have trouble understanding his accent, he's convinced that the best defence for a base is a moat around it (and doesn't listen to people trying to tell him that in most places, you can't sustain a moat in the middle of the desert), he's constantly disparging of the furnishings and architecture around him, frequently gets lost traversing the desert without a guide (which is a good excuse to drop him on the players in out-of-the-way locations) and hates how the humanoid population eats all these spices, camels and goats, which gives their blood a funny taste.

If you feel that makes him too silly, he can probably have some malicious xenophobia added to the mix, with a hatred of the heathen ways of this land and designs on cultural purging.

Okay, this is actually hilarious. I love your suggestions! GO EVEN HARDER ON THE STEREOTYPE. Make even the vampire spawn and the other intelligent undead question his sanity

Why is your character going to be a general for the upcoming civil war? I don't mean "because he's undead" but why go against the theocracy? Is he oppressed or privileged and sympathetic? Is it out of revenge, blood lust, justice, fun?
Maybe that there and make a personality that fits a believable reason why he'd risk his life, country and everything for this war.

Is he a cold calculator or a raving maniac?
Does he care only for personal power, or does he have some higher ideal? Is there something he won't do in his pursuit of power?
How loial is he to the uprising? Can he be persuaded/bribed away from it?

Good questions! In my campaign world, this desert has the odd phenomenon of causing the dead to rise again (usually as zombies). Higher level characters rise as stronger undead after some time. (# of HD=# of hours it takes to turn undead after dying, as well as determines what kind of undead you become.) Since the land is owned by Wee Jas, she sees no problem with using zombies for cheap labor. She does, however, forbid using intelligent undead. Since most intelligent undead are evil, and prey upon the living, they've been outlawed as a means of convenience, and usually killed on sight.

So, yes, you could say that all intelligent undead are oppressed since they're all seen as vermin to be exterminated on sight; if they weren't generally evil, they'd be sympathetic.

It gets better. Not just in this country (called N'nil), but throughout the game world, people are TERRIFIED of vampires. This is ironic since nobody has actually seen a vampire for hundreds of years. Vlad (yes, I named him Vlad) is being recruited for this uprising. The other undead have offered him the opportunity to come out of hiding, and get a slice of the Necropolis they're planning for all undead around the world. It'll be a city free from the burden of living under the boot heel of the living, where prisoners of war are slaughtered daily for sustenance.

The long term plans are to start farming humanoids for food, much like how people raise pigs and cattle.

So of course he's going to jump onto this opportunity. Since vampires are extremely powerful, he'd be a very good ally, especially since he can rebuke the other generals and undead soldiers. He's really one of the most essential parts of the plan.

He's extremely loyal to this cause, too, since despite all their power, vampires have a myriad of weaknesses. This is why nobody has seen one in centuries: they were hunted to near extinction, and the remaining ones have been hiding.

The adventuring party, should they all survive the initial uprising, will be made members of the resistance. They'll either take down Necropolis before it forms, side with the undead, or maybe leave it to the survivors to deal with and move on to a different adventure.

[Incorrect]

Roleplay him wearing a dollar-store toy vampire teeth.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

Roleplay him wearing a dollar-store toy vampire teeth.

I think I got some lying around! Thanks!

[johnbragg]

I'm going to suggest a different direction than just cranking up the stereotypes to 11. he's boring because the players know exactly what to expect. change that.

you say vampires havent been seen in forever in the campaign world. they're more powerful than other intelligent undead (rebuking etc). let's work on why that is.

Steal from White Wolf WoD. Vampires are vampires and were hunted to extinction because of Diablerie--they are the apex predators of the undead world.

once Vlad munches down on a mummy during a crisis and visibly levels up, you've got yourself a factional split in the undead army.

if you want, depending on the edition, you can template up the mummy into a "vampire drained mummy"

[King of Nowhere]

Good questions! In my campaign world, this desert has the odd phenomenon of causing the dead to rise again (usually as zombies). Higher level characters rise as stronger undead after some time. (# of HD=# of hours it takes to turn undead after dying, as well as determines what kind of undead you become.) Since the land is owned by Wee Jas, she sees no problem with using zombies for cheap labor. She does, however, forbid using intelligent undead. Since most intelligent undead are evil, and prey upon the living, they've been outlawed as a means of convenience, and usually killed on sight.

So, yes, you could say that all intelligent undead are oppressed since they're all seen as vermin to be exterminated on sight; if they weren't generally evil, they'd be sympathetic.

It gets better. Not just in this country (called N'nil), but throughout the game world, people are TERRIFIED of vampires. This is ironic since nobody has actually seen a vampire for hundreds of years. Vlad (yes, I named him Vlad) is being recruited for this uprising. The other undead have offered him the opportunity to come out of hiding, and get a slice of the Necropolis they're planning for all undead around the world. It'll be a city free from the burden of living under the boot heel of the living, where prisoners of war are slaughtered daily for sustenance.

The long term plans are to start farming humanoids for food, much like how people raise pigs and cattle.

that's a good level of depth.

With this starting point, I see three possibilities:
1) well intentioned extremist
2) fantastical racist
3) complete monster

1) this vampire has actually pretty good intentions overall. his intention is to create a sort of utopistic society where the undead feed on the living as a sort of tax, without killing them. all of it fueled by the labor of mindless undead. so, you have to get bitten by a vampire once per week, but you'll receive clerical care for any long-term consequence, and you won't have to work too hard on the field. a pretty good trade also for the living.
this kind of villain has a sympathetic goal and may become an ally of the party if the party gives him the means to realize his utopia. he also would have decently strong morals in what he would not be willing to do. he's probably the guy trying to keep the pillaging to a minimum after a battle.
perhaps he could also be a bit oblivious to the evilness around him; you'll see him reprimanding his underlings for needless killing of the living, while giving motivational speeches on why living and undead could really get along if everyone was only willing to play it nice.
if you want to give the party complex moral decisions, this can be the better option: now helping the bad guys makes some sense. Or perhaps they can help the lighter shade of black to dump the darker shades to reach a good agreement with the white.

2) this vampire cares for his fellow undead, but sees the humans as cattle. in a more sympathetic version, he may hate humanity for the persecutions he had to suffer. in a less sympathetic version, he may just not care. anyway, his goal is a world dominated by undead, with living serving as cattle. he still has commitment to a cause, that of undead supremacy. he'll be willing to take risks and sacrifices towards it.
this version is a bit like a nazi, with a distorted ideology advocating supremacy of a people, a burning hate or contempt for the "inferior races", and a strong willingness to fight for it.
It can be the more dangerous option, because this is an enemy that cannot be bribed, reasoned, or intimidated. He's fighting for a cause, and he'll pay any price for it.

3) this vampire only cares for his personal power and well-being. Sure, he'd love to have an undead society because it would make his life easier, but in the end he's only in it for the reward, and he'll run away if things get too dangerous. he would also have no particular qualms about double-crossing his "allies" if it suits his goals.
In this version he's a ruthless mercenary. he's the most despicable one, if you want a clear villain that the party can hate and kill without remorse.

[Segev]

Make him Vlad von Count, and make him the Quartermaster-General. Count von Count, of course, loves to count things. Did you know that this characterization of the muppet vampire comes from an oft-forgotten way of handling vampires, traditionally? They're OCD, and scattering rice or other small items in large numbers makes them feel compelled to stop and count them. Go full muppet-ham, and not only play up the stereotypes, but give him weather-control powers that include thunder and lightning when he triumphantly finishes counting things or making other pronouncements.

And sometimes when he gets overly dramatic with things that aren't that dramatic.

And sometimes when he delivers a totally mundane line; if anybody looks askance at him, have him cough and apologize, "Sometimes it just slips out." In a bad Wallachian accent, of course. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!"

[Azuresun]

If you feel that makes him too silly, he can probably have some malicious xenophobia added to the mix, with a hatred of the heathen ways of this land and designs on cultural purging.

It can be very effective to have an antagonist who is easy to underestimate, who seems ineffectual and a bit comedic....until they do something completely beyond the pale.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

that's a good level of depth.

With this starting point, I see three possibilities:
1) well intentioned extremist
2) fantastical racist
3) complete monster

1) this vampire has actually pretty good intentions overall. his intention is to create a sort of utopistic society where the undead feed on the living as a sort of tax, without killing them. all of it fueled by the labor of mindless undead. so, you have to get bitten by a vampire once per week, but you'll receive clerical care for any long-term consequence, and you won't have to work too hard on the field. a pretty good trade also for the living.
this kind of villain has a sympathetic goal and may become an ally of the party if the party gives him the means to realize his utopia. he also would have decently strong morals in what he would not be willing to do. he's probably the guy trying to keep the pillaging to a minimum after a battle.
perhaps he could also be a bit oblivious to the evilness around him; you'll see him reprimanding his underlings for needless killing of the living, while giving motivational speeches on why living and undead could really get along if everyone was only willing to play it nice.
if you want to give the party complex moral decisions, this can be the better option: now helping the bad guys makes some sense. Or perhaps they can help the lighter shade of black to dump the darker shades to reach a good agreement with the white.

2) this vampire cares for his fellow undead, but sees the humans as cattle. in a more sympathetic version, he may hate humanity for the persecutions he had to suffer. in a less sympathetic version, he may just not care. anyway, his goal is a world dominated by undead, with living serving as cattle. he still has commitment to a cause, that of undead supremacy. he'll be willing to take risks and sacrifices towards it.
this version is a bit like a nazi, with a distorted ideology advocating supremacy of a people, a burning hate or contempt for the "inferior races", and a strong willingness to fight for it.
It can be the more dangerous option, because this is an enemy that cannot be bribed, reasoned, or intimidated. He's fighting for a cause, and he'll pay any price for it.

3) this vampire only cares for his personal power and well-being. Sure, he'd love to have an undead society because it would make his life easier, but in the end he's only in it for the reward, and he'll run away if things get too dangerous. he would also have no particular qualms about double-crossing his "allies" if it suits his goals.
In this version he's a ruthless mercenary. he's the most despicable one, if you want a clear villain that the party can hate and kill without remorse.

Hmm, okay, yeah, this is good stuff. I think I'll go between 2 and 3. In my campaign setting vampires are evil, and are driven to not only feed, but also kill. He sees most undead as superior to the living for many reasons, but especially sees vampires as superior to all.

I'm inspired a bit by the show Being Human on the BBC. There's a woman named Lauren who newly becomes a vampire, and has this beautiful speech about wanting to kill her parents, and slaughter children. I'm also drawing from how Rich Burlew portrays vampires in The Order of the Stick.

The only "good" vampire in my campaign world was given a magical ring by Pelor that feeds him the negative energy he needs, thus completely circumventing his lust for blood. Beyond that, all vampires are evil.

Make him Vlad von Count, and make him the Quartermaster-General. Count von Count, of course, loves to count things. Did you know that this characterization of the muppet vampire comes from an oft-forgotten way of handling vampires, traditionally? They're OCD, and scattering rice or other small items in large numbers makes them feel compelled to stop and count them. Go full muppet-ham, and not only play up the stereotypes, but give him weather-control powers that include thunder and lightning when he triumphantly finishes counting things or making other pronouncements.

And sometimes when he gets overly dramatic with things that aren't that dramatic.

And sometimes when he delivers a totally mundane line; if anybody looks askance at him, have him cough and apologize, "Sometimes it just slips out." In a bad Wallachian accent, of course. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!"

Oooh! This seems fun, and actually plays into what little the players have seen of him so far: he's now the keeper of the Dark Skull, and is the liaison to the few living allies. Yeah, I like this

[Grim Portent]

Maybe make him rather unhinged?

One of my personal favourite vampires is Konrad von Carstein from Warhammer. In life he was an insane psychopath, the sort of child that pulls wings off flies for fun, cuts open the castle dogs and frightens the staff. As an adult he graduated to torturing and killing humans for fun. Then he was turned into a vampire, seemingly because his sire found it amusing.

As a vampire Konrad remained a few bats short of a belfry, he was prone to violent outbursts, had an insatiable desire for murder, a tendency to forget what he was doing and just sort of wander off, none of the magical talent inherent to vampires in the setting and a very fragile ego. Before the death of his sire he really hated necromancers because they would mock him for his lack of magical ability, afterwards he needed them to provide his army and had to try and reel in his psychopathy when it came to them. When he ultimately got himself killed he'd just sort of meandered off into the woods as his army of the undead crumbled, off chasing the fairies as it were.


Having the vampire be insane in the wandering mind kind of way as well as being a monstrous psychopath can help make for some interesting scenarios imo. Sudden violent bursts of rage, rapid priority shifts, detachment from consequence and other eccentricities can make for quite an intimidating enemy, or a dangerous ally.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

Maybe make him rather unhinged?

One of my personal favourite vampires is Konrad von Carstein from Warhammer. In life he was an insane psychopath, the sort of child that pulls wings off flies for fun, cuts open the castle dogs and frightens the staff. As an adult he graduated to torturing and killing humans for fun. Then he was turned into a vampire, seemingly because his sire found it amusing.

As a vampire Konrad remained a few bats short of a belfry, he was prone to violent outbursts, had an insatiable desire for murder, a tendency to forget what he was doing and just sort of wander off, none of the magical talent inherent to vampires in the setting and a very fragile ego. Before the death of his sire he really hated necromancers because they would mock him for his lack of magical ability, afterwards he needed them to provide his army and had to try and reel in his psychopathy when it came to them. When he ultimately got himself killed he'd just sort of meandered off into the woods as his army of the undead crumbled, off chasing the fairies as it were.


Having the vampire be insane in the wandering mind kind of way as well as being a monstrous psychopath can help make for some interesting scenarios imo. Sudden violent bursts of rage, rapid priority shifts, detachment from consequence and other eccentricities can make for quite an intimidating enemy, or a dangerous ally.

Okay, so I now have a stereotypical vampire, out of his time and out of the loop of where he is, obsessed with counting things, and prone to bouts of psychopathy. I like this. Thanks guys!

[Celestia]

Give him the ability to stop time, and have him kiss one of the players' girlfriends.

[Lord Torath]

Give him the ability to stop time, and have him kiss one of the players' girlfriends.

Kiss one of the players' girlfriends? Or kiss on of the PCs' girlfriends? It's a subtle but important distinction!

[Celestia]

Kiss one of the players' girlfriends? Or kiss on of the PCs' girlfriends? It's a subtle but important distinction!

If you can figure out how to get a fictional character to kiss a real girlfriend, I'd be impressed. Where did you find a nerd with a girlfriend?

[Cazero]

If you can figure out how to get a fictional character to kiss a real girlfriend, I'd be impressed. Where did you find a nerd with a girlfriend?

As you pointed out, the girlfriend isn't real, so the fictional vampire can kiss her just fine.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

I feel this is a reference to something, but I can't for THE WORLD put my ORA ORA ORA ORA on it...

[Spore]

If you want to sidetrack the heroes, make his vizier/jester betray him. They focus on finishing off the hugely dangerous but insanely predictable villain only for the jester to come out clapping his hands for helping you defeat him and earn the magical artifact he held onto.

The jester then absorbs the villain's soul but is incredibly annoying to deal with (no mind control that is too far, but illusions, debuffs, summons), but he still has vampire weaknesses.

[HalflingHannah]

If the people are terrified of vampires, but they have not seen one in centuries, what if Vlad is a professor at the adventuring school? Maybe the reason he is always shrouded by darknesses is that he doesn't want anyone to know his identity because of his other life. That might be a fun way to make the character more interesting in a non-combat way.

[Jay R]

You need interesting encounters, not necessarily encounters with interesting personalities.

He's a vampire. He's attacking them, not dating them. The key adjectives are "threatening", "deadly", and "evil", not "interesting". If he is sufficiently menacing, they won't find him boring.

Nobody wants vampires to sparkle.

[Spore]

what if Vlad is a professor

Nobody wants vampires to sparkle.

Seems like OP is at an impasse regarding the TONE of his game.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

If the people are terrified of vampires, but they have not seen one in centuries, what if Vlad is a professor at the adventuring school? Maybe the reason he is always shrouded by darknesses is that he doesn't want anyone to know his identity because of his other life. That might be a fun way to make the character more interesting in a non-combat way.

A professor at a university that's secretly a vampire in a theocracy that specializes in trafficking the undead? Not likely, but I like your enthusiasm!

Also, as for tone, my players are pretty silly, so I try to play either scary, or serious. I have a lot of horror elements in my game. For instance, they recently encountered (and made pacts with) a kyton. I really played up the Hellraiser themes, even going so far as to play tracks from the Hellraiser and Silent Hill soundtracks.

There are also Githyanki skulking about as well, so I've been playing up some Sith soundtracks whenever they momentarily pop in. We actually have a Githyanki bard in the party that recently was converted over to "good." When the revolution happens, I'm going to have one of the Gith pirates confront him whilst flourishing a silver sword, and shout "TRAITOR!!"

I hope someone gets the reference :D

[Mutazoia]

Sit down and watch "Dracula: Dead and Loving it." Model your general after Leslie Nielsen's Dracula. Or, all the boring aspects of your general could be an act...a way to make people underestimate and discount him as much as possible, while he's moving the pieces around the board from the shadows. He can constantly refer to his "master", as if he's simply a pawn himself. He can have notes that he's written himself, from this supposed master mind, that lead people off on wild goose chases, or off to foil the plans of some rival, all the while people see him as the Ben Stein of the vampire world.

[denthor]

Book of vile darkness has within it a monster even vampires find repulsive and fear. These things are born of lust and a disgust for dying. I am separated from my books but someone here should be able to find it. This should be your final villain so the vamp can team up with the party.

[Son of A Lich!]

My recommendation, if you are doing a fairly serious and dark toned game, is to play him straight and use him to contrast the other villains to highlight that the players aren't in Kansas anymore.

He lounges about in a castle, surrounded by beautiful women enthralled by his charms, he affluent and so standard that when he announces that this name is... Dracula... Even Bela Lugosi would roll his eyes at the clear card board cut out of a villain.

When the civil war breaks out, a few of his hand maidens are captured by the lower class working for the coin of a rival. They do something torturous and brutal (But comfortable to the players, I don't know your players so I can't guide you here). Meanwhile, Drac's wondering why no one is refilling his wine glass and when he eventually finds out what's up the players storm his castle, find his personal quarters and discover a very flowery and delicate letter written by someone that has been truly disturbed and this is NOT what he signed up for.

A lowly Zombie with a very dapper suit and an official ranking seal has been placed in charge while he is gone, but is otherwise a normal, brain dead zombie.

Also, the dressers are empty and the Travel Coffin is missing.

---

Typically, when trying to do a dark and dour story I find my friends and players quick to snark and wit and crack jokes as things get intense. This is a normal reaction to a high stress scenario, even fictional ones. By having a side character that pins down the tone they are familiar with and contrasts with the tone you are trying to evoke, it is very easy to make them a comedic release so that the players aren't finding one for you and upsetting the tone that you are building up.

However, it's important to talk to your players about what is off limits and what is pushing things too far. Horror can be fun. Evil parties can be fun. If someone is uncomfortable telling you that they don't like participating, you can seriously damage a friendship and not know until they refuse to show up any more; and by that point it's too late to make amends.

So, as always, talk to your players and make sure everyone is on the same page.

[MeeposFire]

Honestly cliche villains can be a lot of fun but the trick is that you need to make him passionately love his evilness. If the villain loves his cliche villainy then he can be a lot of fun for your players. Makes me think of characters like Ratigan in the Great Mouse Detective where he is cliched but he is just so much fun. If he did not have so much fun with the part the character could have been very flat.

[Tvtyrant]

So I've got a vampiric general that I recently introduced to my players. They couldn't interact with him much since he was enshrouded with magical darkness for most of the fight, and then peaced out as soon as things got dangerous. That said, I will use him again in future sessions.

The thing is is that he's boring. Originally that was going to be the joke, that he's a cliched vampire cleric named Vlad, and I was going to play up the eastern European stereotypes (accent included). I'm beginning to realize, though, that an ironically boring villain is STILL A BORING VILLAIN.

He just isn't as cool as the chain devil (basically a cenobite) or the swashbuckler mafia I also have in there.

So does anyone have any suggestions to make him more interesting?

The context:

Campaign takes place in a desert theocracy of Wee Jas. The country's economy is based on tourism, schooling (they have a few prestigious universities for training adventurers), and plenty of enthralled zombies that act as free labor.

The intelligent undead, however, are planning on an uprising to claim the land, and zombies, for themselves.

My vampire is a cleric who will be one of the generals in the upcoming war. I'm thinking of making him a cleric of Afflux, who has an army of vampire spawn.

Immortal beings offer a lot of room for interesting traits.

He could be extremely self-aware and is playing up the stereotype of a vampire because he is personally immune to most of the traditional weaknesses and wants people to use garlic and sunlight. Maybe he has done the conquering thing before and now it is a way to pass the time, he expects to lose.

Victory might not even be his goal. He wants to achieve a particular goal and needs an army, but "destroy the library at Aloxium that holds his only memoir" doesn't attract many followers. He offers the party a side option; he will betray his army and lead it into a Trap if they bring him the memoir.

[Segev]

Honestly cliche villains can be a lot of fun but the trick is that you need to make him passionately love his evilness. If the villain loves his cliche villainy then he can be a lot of fun for your players. Makes me think of characters like Ratigan in the Great Mouse Detective where he is cliched but he is just so much fun. If he did not have so much fun with the part the character could have been very flat.

...now I want to alter the personality of the canon BBEG of ToA to be this. I will have to seriously consider upping the ham of

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