Greetings to the esteemed members of the Fraternity and the honorable posters and readers of the forum,
when I was reading the theme for the next QtR, I had an idea. I've been working on this idea for a while now; I think you can guess what it is (if not, look at the subject )
I just want to say a few things beforehand. I lived with cats as long as I can remember, and I love cats. I have been scratched and bitten by cats, as well. I even met a dog who thought he was cat (no kidding).
ok, this is gonna be a relatively long posting, so I'm splitting it (and am hoping for your helpful and always welcome commentaries, corrections, and critic.
and, if someone has a drawing of a particularly feral houscat (having no talent for drawing myself), preferred - very much preferred - under their own (c), that I could use for this article, I would be delighted to use it (without hurting the (c), of course).
kadarin
Last edited by Kadarin on Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Note 1/Treasure: magical items are almost always cat-sized necklaces; and the chance is only 9% (for vampire cat mages, 99%). There are, of course, other possibilites of magical items a cat could use: pawrings, artificial teeth, body armor...
Note 2/XPValue: XP may change considerably with age categories and salient abilities.
Last edited by Kadarin on Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Alanik Ray,
this is very nice, but for once, I don't want to break any (c)-laws, if only in the interest of the QtR. So: is that from you, or in any way free?
thanx anyway,
kadarin
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Vampire cats look just like ordinary domestic cats (see Cat, Small); some of them (~5%) like silver-grey furred siamese cats (those are vampire cat mages, see below). They also behave as normal cats do (with a few exceptions), as long as some intelligent creature may be watching them. However, they are never seen in sunlight and are active only at night. They do not show most of the usual vampiric traits (their image is reflected in mirrors, they cast shadows, they are not repelled by garlic…), but they are clearly afraid of water – any water; and, unlike other cats, they show a strong distaste of catnip.
Vampire cats may communicate with all cats and cat-like beings (e.g. paka, weretigers…) freely, but most of these dislike them (with the exception of midnight cats and luck-eaters).
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Combat:
Vampire cats normally flee from any open combat with creatures larges than themselves.
They get a -9 on opponents’ surprise rolls, are never surprised, always move silently, can spider climb 1×/night (and climb/jump like a normal cat). They can always hide in shadows (at 100%) and have a chance of 90% to hide even without shadows.
Vampire cats feed on humans (or demi-humans or humanoids) only when their victims are sleeping, and no-one is watching them. Any of their three attacks (which always succeed on a sleeping victim, of course) will paralyze the victim (saving throw at -9 in this case). Then they lick his blood (for some unknown reason, these cats prefer male victims), for 1 hp/rnd. For each successful attack, there is a 33% chance that the victim loses a level or HD; for each round of licking, there is 9% chance. As soon as the cat stops licking, the wounds will close themselves withour leaving a scar; the victims may never know they were being attacked.
However, they infect their human (demi-human, humanoid) victims with a kind of bloodlust, if they fail a saving throw against poison at -9. After the first attacks, this will manifest only in a lust for bloody food or raw and bloody meat; further attacks drive the victim to actually drink blood. After the ninth (successful) attack, the thirst of the victim can only be stilled by human blood. He does not turn into a vampire, nor does he turn into any other kind of undead. A vampire cat will not lick the blood of someone “cursed” this way.
Vampire cats are extremly sensible to magic. As all undead, they are immune to mind-affecting spells, such as hold or sleep. They are, however, not completly immune to charm, but have a resistance of 90% against it. Against the casting of the spell they are immune, but with stroking and feeding, they might be susceptible. They are also not immune to cold. But a vampire cat knows exactly when a spell is cast upon it, and will react accordingly; so if it is target of a sleep spell, it will pretend to sleep.
To look directly into the eyes of a vampire cat can be dangerous, for it may charm anyone who does so.
Vampire cats can be repelled by water, by catnip, and by symbols of lawful or good cat deities (e.g. Bast) or witch deities (like Hala). They cannot cross a line of catnip leaves and/or garlic flowers. Normal weapons cannot hurt a vampire cat, but enchanted, blessed, or even cursed weapons can.
Destroying a vampire cat is not an easy task; especially because they have nine lives (or rather, un-lives). To hold them under water, or to expose them to sunlight, will “kill” them, but they will rise again after nine hours or at the next nightfall, wichever comes later.
A vampire cat loses one-ninth of its maximum hit point score per round if immersed in water, and loses 9 hit points per round if even partially exposed to sunlight.
If one wants to lay a vampire cat to rest for a longer period, they must use a sharpened bone of a dog or another canine, smeared with a paste of catnip and garlic blossoms (and, depending on the individual cat vampire, also with other substances, due to the chaotic nature of these monsters). The bone must then be enchanted and driven through the cat’s heart. Then its head must be cut of and its mouth be filled with catnip soaked in holy water.
If treated this way, the cat will be laid to rest for nine years, and rise as a Fledgling (without any salient abilities).
Vampire cats can be turned as shadows, although that may change with age.
After being killed or destroyed nine times, a vampire cat is destroyed forever.
Last edited by Kadarin on Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Kadarin wrote:Alanik Ray,
this is very nice, but for once, I don't want to break any (c)-laws, if only in the interest of the QtR. So: is that from you, or in any way free?
thanx anyway,
kadarin
No, it's not mine, I just found that on Google. It was a joke.
I'm reminded of the young adult book 'Bunnicula' and if confronted with such a creature, I wonder if I wouldn't just chase it around the yard with a weed whip.
Last edited by Manofevil on Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Do us a favor Luv, Stick yer 'ead in a bucket a kick it!
So, gentlemen, that's how it is. Until Grissome.... resurfaces, I'm the acting president, and I say starting with this... anniversary festival, we run this city into the ground! :D
Habitat/Society:
Normally, vampire cats live on the blood of mice, rats, or other small rodents, or small birds. They do, however, seem to find pleasure in attacking sleeping canines, including wolves, wargs, werewolves, and wolfweres. They never attack any feline.
If they attack humans, they usually do so in nights of a dark moon; and they only attack if the human is alone and asleep. As noted above, they have a longing to infect humans with bloodlust.
Vampire cats usually have underground lairs, but not necessarily on graveyards or within crypts or graves. Here they hide the jewels they have stolen from humans, and here they sleep at day. These places are very well hidden, and sometimes even guarded (especially those of the mages).
They are loners and do not form packs, let alone families. As far as known they do (or can) not take grooms, nor do they have offspring.
Some sages believe that a vampire cat can travel the Mists just like the Vistani.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
@Manofevil:
Bunnicula, eh? Haven't heard of that one before (but just looked into wp for info). I do think, however, that my caticula is a little bit more dangerous (and I'm not finished with it yet!) But thx for a good laugh!
k.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Kadarin wrote:@Manofevil:
Bunnicula, eh? Haven't heard of that one before (but just looked into wp for info). I do think, however, that my caticula is a little bit more dangerous (and I'm not finished with it yet!) But thx for a good laugh!
k.
You've never heard of Bunnicula?! The vampiric rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables (with Chester Cat thinking they could turn and has made it his life's work to "stake" them with toothpicks; other than artichokes, do veggies have hearts?). It gave us such classics as The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Chateau Howl-iday Inn. I'm thinking of buying the series for myself since I only ever read it in my elementary school library.
Cute pic, Alanik. The one with the white strip up his forehead looks a lot like my cat. Kind of an iron-gray "hooded cloak" pattern on his upper half, snow-white fur below that. Affectionate little bugger that's kept me from going insane(r).
"Money is the root of all evil...I think I need more money."
@High Priest Mikhal:
well, since I'm no citizen of the US of A and have not been there for the last 25 years or so, I'm only in touch with that bits of american culture that crosses the Atlantic. For all I know, Bunnicula hasn't. But I will certainly look into it.
@Manofevil:
No, you won't "just chase it around the yard with a weed whip". Read more carefully. You don't see a vampire cat. You don't hear it. You don't even feel it when it's attacking you. If I were your DM, I would get you away from the group and have you sleeping alone, and you would even think it was your own free decision (I'm good at this).
And then, nine nights later, imagine the other people in your group notice that you drink blood. Human blood. Just think for a moment what they would do. And then: these cats live only in inhabited areas. Imagine what the townspeople would do to a bloodsucking monster (that's you, in case you didn't notice; the cat is still hiding).
There is a reason cats do not open cans, or clean their litters. They have humans to do that for them.
Have a nice day... but remember: a stake through the heart will kill not only a vampire.
k.
Morn came and went – and came, and brought no day
– George Gordon, Darkness
Fair enough, If you need me, I'll be over in the corner kicking the cat.
Do us a favor Luv, Stick yer 'ead in a bucket a kick it!
So, gentlemen, that's how it is. Until Grissome.... resurfaces, I'm the acting president, and I say starting with this... anniversary festival, we run this city into the ground! :D
)
You've never heard of Bunnicula?! The vampiric rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables (with Chester Cat thinking they could turn and has made it his life's work to "stake" them with toothpicks; other than artichokes, do veggies have hearts?). It gave us such classics as The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Chateau Howl-iday Inn. I'm thinking of buying the series for myself since I only ever read it in my elementary school library.
