Café de Nuit

I was doing some future game research today in regards to vampires and naturally one of my sources was Van Richten's Guide to Vampires. In it is a section on sanctified places, and what qualifies as such.

"A house, owned by the residents."

This got me thinking: in a world based more or less on medieval structure and sensibilities then this sanctuary would in fact be unavailable to most residents by definition of them being tenants. Lords/landlords, corporations (banks), crown land...all are in actuality the owners of such properties. And as such, all a medieval vampire has to do to gain access to a "home" would be to charm the lord/landlord/crown. Even if you were to modernize that aspect of the vampire's legend it's a huge limitation: mortgage is nothing but exclusive rent. The vampire can pretty much go where he/she wants to feed, as long as they stick to properties less than 20 years old...

Has anybody ever taken this angle in their games? A loophole to be exploited by the DM (for or against the PCs), grease for their villain, a pop of the PC Confidence Balloon, a clever mockblock by their PCs...

Five wrote:I was doing some future game research today in regards to vampires and naturally one of my sources was Van Richten's Guide to Vampires. In it is a section on sanctified places, and what qualifies as such.

"A house, owned by the residents."

This got me thinking: in a world based more or less on medieval structure and sensibilities then this sanctuary would in fact be unavailable to most residents by definition of them being tenants. Lords/landlords, corporations (banks), crown land...all are in actuality the owners of such properties. And as such, all a medieval vampire has to do to gain access to a "home" would be to charm the lord/landlord/crown. Even if you were to modernize that aspect of the vampire's legend it's a huge limitation: mortgage is nothing but exclusive rent. The vampire can pretty much go where he/she wants to feed, as long as they stick to properties less than 20 years old...

Has anybody ever taken this angle in their games? A loophole to be exploited by the DM (for or against the PCs), grease for their villain, a pop of the PC Confidence Balloon, a clever mockblock by their PCs...

Strahd can enter any residence in Bavoria for that very reason.

brilliantlight wrote:
Strahd can enter any residence in Bavoria for that very reason.

Well, yeah. What I'm saying is that technically most vampires in most domains can gain access to most dwellings, and as an extension of that, that it is not a Strahd exclusive ability. The peasants in Barovia would, ironically, be protected from any and all roaming vampires, but anywhere else...? Aside from ancestral homes (indefinite residence), which would typically be limited to nobility (the vast minority/one percenters), the rest of the population are up for the buffet any time the predator decides to feed.

This aspect of the vampire's legend has either never really been scrutinized (which I highly doubt), or in the efforts to keep the story grounded in gothic tropes it is only ever a factor because of the protagonists' oftentimes familial links to the downward grade/slide of decadence (again, ancestral homes). Aside from this it is really a non-factor in a vampire tale. Which should make it a non-factor for most Ravenloft games due to the transient nature of the PCs (how many times can you rp the idiot/charmed/ignorant invite?)...DM ingenuity aside.

I'm just curious as to what you DMs have done with this, as I've called it earlier, loophole.

Do you glaze over the technical details and whittle "homeowner" to "head of residence"? Or do you play it straight, leaving it to your game to iron out the details (a decocking of PCs, as it were)?

A vampire scholar/victim obsessed with rising above his/her station in life so that they can protect themselves/family from future attacks...a subtle clue for the PCs to find of local vampire activity?

Is the "greedy" local merchant king's sudden spree of buying up properties in actuality an effort to protect his community from vampires?

Do the origins of the city's slums and tenements actually stem from the secret (forgotten?) designs of an overprotective city planner/council members?

It might explain why homeowners...er..homeDWELLERS(?) do other things to keep out vampires like hang garlic on the windows and holy symbols above their beds.

With all of that considered, the way I see it play out as is this: The people inside own the home based on occupancy.

Why?

Because they are the ones inside, their lives and livelihoods are dependent on the structure. Yes, the local lord owns the land/house. Yes they lease the place which they can never own outright without tremendous costs. However, would a local lord or noble person ever claim to reside there? Not likely. They would boast they could just walk in and kick the family out, but that would be more 'noble entitlement' than an actual desire to do so. The 'house' should be switched to 'home' and the head of the household being that authority for the permanent vampire entrance conditions. Granted Strahd has the authority as he 'is the land' and can enter any residence therein because of that (with the exception of the churches). It is an exception that is made clear throughout editions because it is a rarity. There are other vampire lords without the same phrasing and most domains could be taken advantage of otherwise (don't Ivana and Ivan own the entirety of Borca and parcel it out to everyone else?). Given all of that, could a DM allow their players to misunderstand the conditions and they may be at risk from a vampire that could kill them in their sleep. And there's my 2 cents.