Infirmary, Hospital or Hospice???

MillicanDarque · Post by **MillicanDarque** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:20 pm

I'm trying to figure out what the proper term to use would be. I'm using an old Dungeon adventure, but i'm setting it up in Kartakass. It consists of an infirmary and herbalist's shop that is over run with mold men. I have two questions though. First, what i can't figure out is whether i would be calling this place an Infirmary, Hospital, Healer's, or Hospice. What would make the most sense in this particular setting? Second, i'm trying to decide if i should use a cerebral vampire sneaking in and draining the unconscious patients or stick with the mob of mold men. Which would make more sense in Kartakass? Your thoughts PLEASE!!

Moral Machivelli · Post by **Moral Machivelli** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:06 pm

I'd say Hospice in a rural enviroment. Secondly, of the two, I'd have said cerebral vampire, but add a bit of subtalty. Plant one or two clues beforehand that sugest that it's a normal, bloodsucking vampire. Then, when they turn up, they will notice that the patients are not low on blood(Can cererbral vampiers go out into sunlight? If so, ensure that this one does). That should stump em, and give them a fun time trying to work out what the hell's going on.

A solution? Oh, very well. Just find some way to get the infomation that there are more than one type of vamp in ravenloft, and they all have diferent weaknesses (RvR's Guide to Vampires, a Hunter, or a well traveled resedant could suply this info) Alternatly, have a doctor from Demintelu pass thru, and have him ask to examine the patients. He might be able to work out somthing of just what is going on.

Hmm. Looking back this looks like deus ex machina. Ho hum, just ignore this post.

Jason of the Fraternity · Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:35 am

Moral Machivelli wrote:I'd say Hospice in a rural enviroment.

No, hospices are places that specialize in the care of the dying. Unless this location is specifically tending to people who are already doomed to death, I would recommend either hospital (if it is a more formal and longterm institution) or healer (if it is more generic). Being set in Kartakass, I would probably lean towards healer, since they aren't likely to have many long-term care facilities...

Archedius · Post by **Archedius** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:37 pm

I'd say either monster- you really can make most things work; it's just how you portray them which varies by domain. And yes I agree with Jason on this as I always knew Hospices to be places of care for the dying. Although that is an obscure fact.

MillicanDarque · Post by **MillicanDarque** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:45 pm

What about the Vampire? Any idea where i could get some stats for a Cerebral Vampire? Do i just use regular vampire stats and change his feeding habits from blood to spinal fluid or cerebral fluid?

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:57 pm

Given the poetical leanings of the Kartakans, I'd think they'd come up with a more melodious name for such a place than "the hospital". Some alliterative, slightly over-the-top phrase like the "House of Healing Hands", or a storybook reference like "Dove's Abode" (assuming there's a kindly 'Grandmother Dove' among the lesser animal-characters in Kartakan folk tales) would be more their style.

HuManBing · Post by **HuManBing** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:19 pm

I don't remember seeing any 3rd ed. template or 2nd ed. monster type statted out for a cerebral vampire, but Dr. Dominiani (darklord of Dominia) is a vampire that preys on cerebral fluid. I think he was statted out similar to a vampire, except that his feeding causes Wis drain instead of Con drain. I could be wrong.

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:36 pm

In Denizens of Dread, the cerebral vampire is described in a sidebar to the nosferatu entry. They drain Intelligence instead of blood, but are otherwise identical to nosferatu. This means that they only Create Spawn if victims who've been drained down to 0 Int (which isn't fatal) die from something else; else, their victims are just rendered catatonic.

As for how nosferatu differ from regular vampires, you'll need to read the description for full details. Short form: sunlight doesn't kill them, but they lose use of su + sp powers between dawn and dusk; they regenerate in moonlight instead of having fast healing; no energy drain; domination is permanent if they've fed on the subject; must sleep 8 hours in every 24 in a coffin to survive or to regain powers if exposed to direct sunlight.

DeepShadow of FoS · Post by **DeepShadow of FoS** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:26 pm

The cerebral vamps of Bleak House have a confusion gaze instead of domination, and their spawn are ghouls; only Dominiani knows how to create more. Since Bleak House featured a ship crewed by them--some recently created--it stands to reason they can pass over running water.

They also turned into seagulls, were burned by pure alcohol instead of holy water, had to be killed by beheading while wearing a straightjacket, and could not stand the smell of pure alcohol. These last few IMNSHO went overboard.

Jason of the Fraternity · Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:04 pm

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Given the poetical leanings of the Kartakans, I'd think they'd come up with a more melodious name for such a place than "the hospital". Some alliterative, slightly over-the-top phrase like the "House of Healing Hands", or a storybook reference like "Dove's Abode"

Actually, that is an excellent point, Sharon. It really wouldn't matter too much what you defined the "facility" as, since you could just give it a name/title (and have it be known as a place of healing). I rather like the House of Healing Hands, which could be any one of the aforementioned type of places.

MillicanDarque · Post by **MillicanDarque** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:41 pm

Those are all great suggestions. Thanks. I really like the idea of the "House of Healing Hands". Also, i'll have to check my old Bleak House box for those cerebral vampire stats and see what i can come up with. Thanks again for the help.

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:07 pm

If you're using the stats from Bleak House, I'd recommend you make the seagull-shapechanging and ability to cross running water a quirk of the ship's crew in that adventure, not a standard thing for cerebral vampires. Perhaps Heinfroth infused them with seawater during whatever icky-mad-doctor procedure he uses to create other cerebrals?

Sylaire · Post by **Sylaire** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:58 pm

Hm, if they're native Kartakan, maybe replace the seagulls with something in the songbird line (the ability to charm by song would also be perfectly apropos for Kartakass...though the players would probably see it coming a mile away, so maybe not).

Garudos Celestar · Post by **Garudos Celestar** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:54 am

Sylaire wrote:Hm, if they're native Kartakan, maybe replace the seagulls with something in the songbird line (the ability to charm by song would also be perfectly apropos for Kartakass...

Hmm... evil nightingales. So much for "the organ of delight." For a bird with such a good reputation, the name fits very nicely into the mood of Ravenloft.

Rotipher of the FoS · Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:14 am

If you limit the cerebral's daytime powers as per nosferatu, a whip-poor-will would be a better choice. Nightingales don't sing or fly much after dark -- which would make a night-active one awfully conspicuous to a PC druid or ranger -- whereas whip-poor-wills are nocturnal by habit ... plus, the latter have a bit of a supernatural reputation on their own (psychopomps).

Hmmm... would a Vistani cerebral vampire turn into a vista-chiri?

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Infirmary, Hospital or Hospice???

Infirmary, Hospital or Hospice???