Known vampires

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Did he try to make Van Richten's son into his Vampire groom ?

He did, and succeeded. Well, I guess that's debatable whether you consider it success or not. If I recall correctly from Tales of Ravenloft, the transformation wasn't quite complete when the Dr. slew Erasmus. I think Erasmus still had a bit of his humanity left at the time, but only until sunrise.

ETA: It's VRGtV, not Tales, that has the story. And Erasmus was a vampire groom, but still had some of his humanity, that he felt slowly draining away, so he asked his father to slay him. They talked and reminisced until sunrise, then Rudolph slew him.

How was he revived ?

The Ravenloft equivalent of "A wizard did it." I.e. "A vistani did it." I don't think the specifics were ever explained.

And didn't he somehow linger on after his 1st destruction or is this only in Ron's campaign ?

Yup, that's only my addition, not canon. His Crimson Mist ghost and his vorlog lover Cynthia were added for my campaign (with the help of several on the old RL mailing list).

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

So we have a few wizard types, many warrior types, a few rogues, a few experts and aristocrats. Not one clerical type yet except Leo Dilisnya who imnsho is very misrepresented by his Gaz1 stats.

Well, Tavelia poses as a cleric of the Overseer. And Marla was a Halan healer in life. (PS - I don't have the ecology of the Penangglan article, so I don't know if Marla's in it. What issue is it?)

[EO]

So we have a few wizard types, many warrior types, a few rogues, a few experts and aristocrats. Not one clerical type yet except Leo Dilisnya who imnsho is very misrepresented by his Gaz1 stats.

Well, Tavelia poses as a cleric of the Overseer. And Marla was a Halan healer in life. (PS - I don't have the ecology of the Penangglan article, so I don't know if Marla's in it. What issue is it?)

Marla is 'referenced' in Dragon issue #222. In it, there is a Penangglan named Marla, but it doesn't seem to be set in Ravenloft at all. However, the setup is very similar: lone penangglan posing as a caretaker in an abbey.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Here's another "cleric" one from the list:

Sister Evangeline, Female Human fledgling Vampire (turned 70 years prior to Chilling Tales: The Scarlet Kiss, which probably takes place in the late 730's)
Poses as a sister of Hala. Wears a veil to cover bright red holy water stigmata on her face. Can freely enter the Halan hospice because it was built on top of her sanctuary. Weakened by living in a holy place, she can't drain levels, and can't create spawn by bite. Instead, she can feed a drop of her blood to a victim, who slowly turns into a vampire. Animal form is a giant rat infested by disease carrying fleas.

unusual immunities for a vamp her age: sunlight makes her sleepy, not dead. immune to garlic and mirrors, and casts a reflection. Immune to Halan holy symbols. Uses charm a lot to keep up her ruse, so she might have improved domination or something.

Probably an Exp or Rog?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Mayonaka
Monsterous Compendium I & II - pp122-125
Monsterous Compendium II - "Vampire, Eastern (Mayonaka)"
Ravenloft Campaign Setting: Domains and Denizens - p40
Oriental Vampire (Monster)

Isn't this one a mighty samurai warrior who wanders the land seeking a better swordsman than himself?

Yup, that would be the one you were thinking of.

Also, I checked. Mircea is indeed a vrykolaka, as of RLDMG.

[The Giamarga]

Here's another "cleric" one from the list:

Sister Evangeline, Female Human fledgling Vampire (turned 70 years prior to Chilling Tales: The Scarlet Kiss, which probably takes place in the late 730's)
Poses as a sister of Hala. Wears a veil to cover bright red holy water stigmata on her face. Can freely enter the Halan hospice because it was built on top of her sanctuary. Weakened by living in a holy place, she can't drain levels, and can't create spawn by bite. Instead, she can feed a drop of her blood to a victim, who slowly turns into a vampire. Animal form is a giant rat infested by disease carrying fleas.

unusual immunities for a vamp her age: sunlight makes her sleepy, not dead. immune to garlic and mirrors, and casts a reflection. Immune to Halan holy symbols. Uses charm a lot to keep up her ruse, so she might have improved domination or something.

Probably an Exp or Rog?

Interesting. I'm not sure if i have CT. I'll have to buy it somewhere.. Is it good?

Mangrum did date most adventures by the publishing date:

Some products are dated on the basis of year of publication, which I use as the basis for references to events “thirteen years past” and so forth. When the product line started, 735 was considered the “present,” and at times (including now) the line has used an advancement system of one game year = one real year. For example, anything published in 1999 can be assumed to take place in the year 752, on the Barovian calendar. However, if any accessory dates itself or is later dated by any other canon source, I will always use the date provided over the year-of-publication baseline.

So Chilling Tales would take place in 748 as it was published in 1995.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Interesting. I'm not sure if i have CT. I'll have to buy it somewhere.. Is it good?

It's a mixed bag. I really like the golem and ghost adventures in it. The rest range from mediocre to terrible. And they each have a "terror tip" that will provoke reactions in your players ranging from uproarious laughter (starting the session in the dark with a demon mask and cape on and growling "You will never defeat me!" before removing the mask and getting down to business) to a possible punch in the face (marking a player's neck with red marker while their eyes are closed).

Also, a lot of the adventures have the PCs saving the good Dr's bacon, or having the Dr off on the wrong track. Which is OK maybe once, IMHO, but any moreso undermines his status as the land's greatest monster hunter.

So Chilling Tales would take place in 748 as it was published in 1995.

Mangrum dates only two of the adventures in the book: The Surgeon's Blade at 738 and The Taskmaster's Leash at 741. I guess since it's an anthology of adventures featuring Dr. Van Richten, the idea is that they are spread out over his career. The Scarlet Kiss is between those two as printed in the book, so I assumed it would be around the same dates.

[The Giamarga]

I see. Good research Ron.

I found another reference in the assassins thread:

-The Spider (Ancient Assassin) in Matira Bay is a vampire and had probably been hibernating for 200 years (Van Richten's Guide to Vampires, p 90-91);

(Note that the page numbers are slightly off in my book.)

As The Spider has been hibernating for 200 years since his last killings in the quoted Report in VRGtV, he is at least an old vampire. And possibly a Rog5/Asn1+. One wonders where the nicknames come from? Can he change into spider form? Or does he only have a cloak of the spiders? Perhaps this is a drow vampire? (have to reread those)

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Yes, Drow vampires do take giant spider form, according to RLMCIII.

(And I just checked, Driders and Araneas don't qualify for the vampire template, FYI.)

Alternatively, it's a pretty common nickname for people with large webs of secret contacts and minions. (See Lord Varys from Song of Ice and Fire). But it might be fun in this case for it to mean both.

[The Giamarga]

This is the reference from VRGtV:

When the murders began, I realized at once that there was something familiar about the methods used. Al the time I had no opportunity to dwell on it, however. The city council was breathing down my neck - understandably, because the first four victims had been city council members - and I had important skins to protect.
It was only several weeks into the reign of terror that I realized why the methods were so familiar. I had read about them in a local history book. I found the volume in the constabulary library quickly enough. The reference was two hundred years old, from when this great city had been nothing more than a tiny fishing village. But there was no mistaking the handiwork of the killer.
It was the Spider, Ancient Assassin, back in business after a hiatus of 200 years...
- From the journal of Superintendent Bryndan Oleary

Obviously the nickname would have come from his killings somehow, as nobody knows the identity of the Ancient Assassin or if he has a web of contacts... Maybe the dead were left with puncture marks similar to a spider or they were poisoned? Or maybe he only climbed an unclimbable obstacle to get to them thus earning the nickname.

[The Giamarga]

Also there are a wedded couple of nosferatu in the Dungeon adventure "The Price of Revenge" set in Valachan. The then town mayor and a female Doctor sent by Karkhov. I think at least the doctor is also mentioned in the Valachan chapter of Gazetteer 4.

Dr. Antianetta Despini-Hoyer, now mayor of Ungrad. She's the one that developed a "cure" for white fever that actually allows people to heal temporary Con damage at twice the normal rate. She was sent by Von Kharkov to control the then mayor of Ungrad who went a bit too far in his feeding habits causing an epidemic of the White Fever. She married him and set herself up as a country doctor, who had developed a "cure" for Valachans White Fever. When sometime later (738 according to JWM's timeline) adventurers destroyed her huband, she apparently inherited his post.

I'll have to reread the Dungeon adventure again and her entry in Gaz4 to come up with more details. I think i remember that she was an older vamprie than the old Mayor, but i could be wrong. As Valachan was created in 625 she can't be much older than that, if she's a native Valachani. He first name seems very Borcan though. She's probably an expert, a herbalist and doctor, perhaps even with Learned Physician levels while her late husband strikes me as an Aristocrat .

The adventure "The Price of Revenge" also features very young vistana girl turned vampire, living in the wilds with a pack of wolves, who starts the adventureres off on the Mayor's tracks. It is unclear if she is still around. All these vampries are nosferatu btw.

625 When his master is destroyed, Von Kharkov flees Darkon into the Mists; Valachan appears. [DoD pg. 16; DL]
630 Baron von Kharkov makes Felix Hoyer his vampiric slave. [Speculation based on TpoR pg. 51: “Over a century ago.”]
716 Eliza born to the powerful Vistana seer Awilda. [TPoR pg. 51]
726 Baron von Kharkov appoints Felix Hoyer as mayor of Ungrad. His arrival is accompanied by the “Great Epidemic” of White Fever. The Vistana child Eliza falls victim. To appease the citizens, Mayor Hoyer sends for a physician, Dr. Antianetta Despini. [TPoR pp. 50-1]
727 Dr. Despini brings the Great Epidemic in Ungrad under control. [TPoR pg. 51]
728 The bereaved Vistana Awilda curses Mayor Hoyer at his wedding. [TPoR pg. 51]
733 The “young, rich, and foolish” wizard Mademoiselle Beatrice moves from Richemulot to Ungrad in the hopes of obtaining the “Dark Gift” of vampirism. Mayor Hoyer simply toys with her, and she opens the Inn of Quiet Repose. [TPoR pg. 58]
738 Awilda’s curse comes to pass as heroes destroy Mayor Hoyer. Dr. Despini-Hoyer, however, reportedly escapes. (Mid-winter) (The Price of Revenge) [Speculation based on publication date of Dungeon #42.]

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Maybe the dead were left with puncture marks similar to a spider or they were poisoned? Or maybe he only climbed an unclimbable obstacle to get to them thus earning the nickname.

Or maybe the vampire deliberately spread the nickname itself, to get would-be heroes barking up the wrong tree, searching for a spider-like monster.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Update: I just noticed that FoG lists Dominiani as 180 years old. Since Mangrum's timeline places FoG at 736, that means he was born in 556, which means he is a false-history refugee, since Gundarak didn't exist until he was 37, yet he grew up there according to Bleak House.

[The Giamarga]

Dr. Daclaud Heinfroth (Dr. Dominiani) - Male, human, Cerebral Vampire
Born in Gundarak, which formed in 593 and dissolved in 735. Unless he is a false-history refugee, that makes him fledgeling or barely mature. And all the other cerebrals must be fledgelings, since he didn't start creating them until after the GC in 735.

Became a cerebral vampire by injecting himself with cerebral fluid (in an attempt to cure his madness) from a woman who had (unbeknownst to Dominiani) just been fed on by Duke Gundar.

Certainly an Exp, maybe with some Learned Physician levels.

Sources: Ravenloft Third Edition, Domains of Dread, Bleak House, Feast of Goblyns.

If we assume that he didn't get created as a cerebral vampire in 593, he can at most be a mature vampire becoming old no earlier than 793. If we also assume that he was younger than 94 when he became a vampire, he would definately be a mature vampire by 750. I'm guessing he did not become a vampire long after Gundarak was formed. Or maybe he is an outsider? How many HD does he have in his 2E stats in FoG/BH? 8 or 9 ? How old does the good Doctor look?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Maybe cerebral vampires age at a faster rate than most strains, or his unorthodox means of contracting vampirism let him start out as a higher state of development than is usual.