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>>51622963
Seems like you know which origin story you want to use. I'm not sure what you need help with.

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Was wondering if /tg/ had any good ideas. also if there's any pitfalls or stupid shit I should avoid. another Idea I had was that instead of holy magic harming these vamps, rare medicinal plants including a strain of garlic would burn them

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>>51623135
That weakness seems inconsistent with the nature goddess origin. They should be harmed by a hallmark of civilization in that case.

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handforged iron dagger could work, could definitely bring a fey element to nature vamps

>>51622963
Looking upon the ruined field of battle, scant hours after the end of their latest wretched war, the Goddess sewed the seeds of mankinds undoing.

It sprouted and grew, roots soaking deeply of the blood and viscera left in this place. New life with profane purpose fueled in struggle and death. It was a war that to her seemed pointless. Succession, no righteous cause.

The reaching bark and branches grew up around the corpse of one of the two rightful kings that had sought victory...

Within this twisted and blood red tree, that corpse changed. Fueled by her desire and given the semblances of night. Of the screeching bat and the pack prowling wolf.

She gifted him claw and fang, and power even the mortal wielders of nature magic dare not pursue. True, when he emerged from his confines he was still quite dead, but this too was necessary. To be a carrion thing the mortals would fear.

To be her harvest upon mankind.

Sustained by blood as the roots had drained. Rejuvenated amid soil bound in wood. Slain only by a wooden stake through the heart.

>>51622963
>How would I go about making Vampires natural?
>I know! Have a god tailor make them!

If trying to reduce supernatural involvement in their origins, what I'd suggest:
>Small or Tiny in size. Hematophagy is quite efficient at smaller sizes, but sees diminishing returns the larger the creature gets.

>Decide on weaknesses and / or other common vampiric "traits" you'd like to see in them.

>Keep in mind what they're supposed to be feeding on. Do they target intelligent creatures? Are they a pest to mega-fauna like Elephants on land, or whales in the sea? Note that being aquatic / marine gives wriggle-room to make them Medium.

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>>51623282
thats pretty cool
>>51623345
I wanted a non satanic/undead abomination esque origin and thought it would be pretty neat to go the nature route. Vampires have dealies involving predatory animals like wolves so I thought it might work. Plus vampire druids! if that doesn't sound too retarded.

Vampires are monsters that are made to be that which preys upon man. This is so because man was able to make himself above the great predators that kept balance in creation

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>>51622963
Make them that only the most vile and twisted of mortals become vampires. While they're powerful, they have deadly weaknesses. They're cursed by the god of death and god of nature for up setting the natural balance.

>>51622963
>vampire race origin involving nature

See Nasuverse for "True Ancestors". They're basically True Fae.

>when you True Fae so hard you become an elemental

>First Vampyr were the children of the union between Goddess of Nature and God of War to deter men from desecrating the earth
>Vampyr act on their original purpose in the early days, killing men in droves but they show a strong weakness as a result of their sire
>Wrought iron, rust and certain other manmade twistings of nature will act on their bodies like a strong acid does ours
>After the initial warring generations, the Vampyr realize it would be much easier to harm nations of men from the inside and chose subterfuge and infiltrating human civilization moreso than open conflict
>Many large cities now impose a literal "Test of Metal" upon any who hope to take up office or leadership positions such as mayors, barony, governors or stewards

>>51623189
>Crosses

Shit yeah nigga

>>51623673
>How do we weaponize the wheel as magic against this thing of nature?

And then they settled on using a mandala as a magic symbol/circle whatever thing.

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>>51623632
nice
>>51623422
ok, not vampyr druids but female nature priestesses and male secular lords

>>51622963
>with the cunning of a man and the savagery of a beast.
sounds like a werewolf m8

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>>51623997
during the war of mortals vs vampires, early mages created the werewolf to fight off vampires. it didn't go to well

>>51623135
In the US version of Being Human, vampires have a garlic allergy that prevents them from hiding their true vampiric form when they come in contact with it. It was used to comedic effect in the show but it's actually a pretty cool concept.

>>51623064
I think he wants them to have some sort of flavorful birth.

>>51622963
I love this, OP. My 2 cents. It's not like they're an animal, they are immortal, do not require sustenance. They are born in the dark places of nature, nearest highly populated areas. Walking naked and fully grown out of caves and adequately dense foliage, they understand that their mission is to destroy man. They are super powerful and cunning, and look almost entirely like men. They are pure murder machines until they can acquire sufficient clothing, shelter and circumstance to meld into society without revealing themselves to the sun. You see, Sol (or whatever) is The Mother of Man, and cherishes them greatly. The Goddess of Earth wants to hide her agents against man from Sol, for if she sees one, she smites it.

So, working at night, vampires dedicate all their efforts to destroying men. The basic chores of this include silent murder whenever there is time (or in the case of a vampire who is sure to be revealed, bloody massacre, so long as it doesn't hinder the more productive efforts of any fellow vampire), but the real work is done by vampires who have gathered clout amongst men. The lowest of these work in crime and rebellion, invoking turf wars, suicide missions, and riots. The highest of these are Lords and Kings, causing needless wars and winning phyric victories. The finest vampire who ever lived was an Archbishop. His crusades' generals were even mostly vampires.

So it's interesting. They suck the life out of everything, from a single person to a whole nation. I think this empowers them. Maybe ballistae bolts would shatter off the flesh of Archbishop Vlad, but a newborn vampire could be felled like any regular man.

>>51623632
This, desu. Very cool.

>>51622963
>>51623587
Pretty much this. Read Type Moon's lore about the Primate Murder, True Ancestors and even Dead Apostles. They're pretty much Gaia's (the will of the planet) response to humans fucking up Earth on Nasuverse.

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>>51624342
yeah! After the discovery of their weaknesses, Vampires can't just go out murderpartying humans/mortals anymore. got to be sneaky. Since they're origin is connected to the Goddess of Nature, maybe barbarians and rogue sects of nature priests worship these guys. sorta like the Gypsies and Cossacks in Bram Stokers book

>>51624617
I was thinking their "weakness" is rarity and the sun. They're just very rare, maybe three in three biggest city in the world. So if they're found out, they just go berserk until stopped by the whole town guard or a priest of Sol, who can smite a vampire. But they don't WANT to rampage. They know that the most damage they can is social damage, so their first intention is always to infiltrate. Remember, they are also the progeny of a war god, his interests must also be observed.

I do like the idea that certain cultist are involved. Maybe one of the greatest rites of passage as an acolyte of either the war or the nature gods is having a vampire reveal himself to you. This means both that your devotion is pure enough for the vampire to trust you with his identity and also that he desires you as an agent, thus making you an almost direct agent of your God. It is your greatest glory to serve a vampire.

>>51625516
I didn't mean there are only three vampires. Maybe fifty in the world, though.

I like having no one origin of vampires. In my one campaign some come from Orcus, but the Drow Nobles are vampires made by Lolth that have spidery motifs.

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Zendikar vampires, senpai.

>>51622963
vampires are diseases in human form

just how they are actual personifications of diseases irl

because they get repelled by garlic

there u go, nature

>>51625516
>I do like the idea that certain cultist are involved. Maybe one of the greatest rites of passage as an acolyte of either the war or the nature gods is having a vampire reveal himself to you. This means both that your devotion is pure enough for the vampire to trust you with his identity and also that he desires you as an agent, thus making you an almost direct agent of your God. It is your greatest glory to serve a vampire.

Alternately, a vampire reveals itself to someone who doesn't worship it, simply because they've been so destructive that it wants to help. Like PCs.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InLoveWithYourCarnage

>>51626006
so much this

>>51622963
In my "try to make sense of power sources" homebrew, vampires are undead powered by Primal magic (like druids), which is why they have more animalistic/shapeshifting powers.

>>51626975
>"try to make sense of power sources" homebrew
Please post everything, here or in the worldbuilding thread

Easy

Vampires are the ultimate apex predator. Evolved to efficiently hunt sentient creatures by combing intelligence with cannibalistic hunger.

This results in different strains mimicking our predators in real life. Lions blend into human society perfectly, often as highly respected individuals with a great deal of power (power often used to eat people). Some are more like wolves, nomadically living on the edge of wilderness and picking off travelers and merchants. Vultures live in human societies but among the desperate and prey on the weak and vulnerable. Bears form vampire dens in the wilderness, tiny little outposts that occasionally launch raids and sometimes forming small vampire kingdoms that can easily take on 10 times their number of humans.

This keeps humanity constantly paranoid, constrains their population growth (a bit) and more often than not, has them falsely accusing each other of being vampires.

Vampires themselves worship a broad generic nature cycle of hunter and prey. It is their right to kill and hunt but its also on them not to collapse the system and doom themselves. Plenty of vampires practice sustainable feeding patterns and often (secretly) defend their human feeding zones from more ravenous rivals. Every vampire is taught at a young age to preserve their meals as best they can or even picking off only the worst of human kind. Nomadic vampires practice crop rotations by raiding an area, taking the weak and vulnerable from one area and then coming back after 3-5 years. In fact, purposefully overfeeding on your stock is incredibly shameful and embarassing and a sign of gluttony (the ultimate vampire sin).

That said, raiding your rivals food stores is a nature part of the hunter and prey cycle and totally a okay. And most vampires would slaughter a human who attempts to disrupt the cycle without a thought.

Recrossing the Styx by Ian R. MacLeod

http://a1018.g.akamai.net/f/1018/19025/1d/randomhouse1.download.akamai.com/19025/freelibrary/recrossingstyxsuvudu.pdf

>>51627119
Basically, in my canon there will be 4 types of magic in Eberron (it's not that far off of from the official one I think):

Short: Arcane magic is the physical or "body" magic, contained in crystals and particles and so can be shaped into things easily. Divine magic is the "soul" magic, shaped by shared belief and ideals. Primal magic is the "instinct" magic, somewhere halfway between Arcane and Divine. Psionics is "mind" magic, subtle manipulations tapping into the power stored in the mind of the user and others. There's also a "martial" power source, which isn't exactly magic, but just people breaking the limits of a normal person by training really, really hard, an internal power instead of external.

Most people favor one of these, but unknowingly use all of them, as there's quite a bit of overlap. Effects aren't exclusive, everyone can access, say, fire magic, it just manifests in different ways.

>>51627591
Long:

Arcane magic uses the latent magical energies in the atmosphere/earth/etc. Special ores and crystals can store and focus it for use in specific ways (see: Eberron shards). It can be harnessed and controlled by memorizing formulas/runes (often using the special stuff as power source) and so once you create an item that channels it, it can be used by anyone. It is hence the magic type used primarily by Eberron's magical item industry. People with dragon marks are natural conductors for arcane magic.

In combat, arcane magic not already contained in items is hard to control, and so it's usually about containing the effect so its power doesn't disperse over an area that's too large. Hence, arcane casters usually bring wholesale destruction to the battlefield.

The nature of Divine magic is heavily debated by scholars. Devotion to gods and ideals is rewarded by some outside force shaping the magic around and inside you into the desired effect. Whatever shapes this force however doesn't make itself seen; nobody sane have spoken to the gods for quite a while, if anyone ever really did, so their very existence is starting to be in doubt. The effects, however, undeniably exist, and those with an affinity for divinity remain empowering and leading their allies to victory with no place for doubt in their heart. Pact magic is essentially divine magic with a more direct force.

Primal magic relies on the user becoming one with its natural self, to borrow the power of the lesser spirits that spring into being naturally wherever there is life, however little, or however twisted. Primal magic users are close to their inner beast, and have a keen pack and hunting instinct, protecting allies and hunting their enemies relentlessly, as well as often blessed with incredible stamina. Undeads are most often powered by extremely twisted primal magic; this is why Vampires are so bestial and can take animal forms.

>>51627598

Psionics probably existed on Eberron even before the Kalashtar arrived, but they are the undisputed masters of the art. A person trained in psionics can access the secrets hidden in the mind, unlocking power through meditation and eventually bending other minds, and even reality to their will. Psionics is a sort of opposite to Primal, since it is used by having absolute control over your mind and elevating above your base nature.

Martials turn their focus inward, and are rewarded with unmatched power and speed. Although flashy magic is all over Eberron, soldiers and assassins relying on their keenly honed bodies, fighting instincts and ingenuity to get by are still by far the best at killing shit fast. Of course, they still use magical equipment and often even some magic from the other disciples (sometimes without their explicit knowledge); doing otherwise would be as foolish as fighting with a hand tied behind their back.

Disciples often cross over. Sometimes you are so devoted to your training routine that it becomes religious. Or the opposite, you may use the divine reward to enhance your body primarily instead of healing others. Maybe your mind touched the dream of a sleeping god and now you know arcane secrets man was never meant to know. Either way, consider this more of a guideline than hard rules.

>>51623189
>bee hives are against nature

>>51622963
That's actually not a vampire in ops pic.
Its a roman version of one of the four horseman

>>51622963
So a werewolf?

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There was a thread a good while back that suggested vampires being associated with corrupt animal totems, with the various strains having leanings toawrds specific animals associated with vampire folklore, like wolves, bats, owls, leeches, etc. It may still exist somewhere in the archives. American Vampire also has some good material for vampires as a semi-natural species

>God of war
Stop this shit. Vampires have nothing to do with war.

Vampires are predators, not fighters. They can't march to battle, and they don't belong on the battlefield. What about the vampire legend makes you think of war?

Even a God of hunting would make more sense.

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>>51628727
I think I have screencapped the post you are talking about. Is it pic related?

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>This entire fucking thread
Seriously OP?

Like, not one idea came to mind?

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>>51622963
I'd go with something like vampires Blindsight. They're just subspecies of humans, with superior intellect and control over their body. They can even sleep for a long time, if there's no "food" around.

Hint, with blooming agriculture, there's whole cities full of food. They don't have to sleep anymore.

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>>51632650
Also, you can make vampires a bit more "tribal" as they have stronger bonds with nature. Zendikar aesthetic would fit.

>>51631582
I think that was part of the thread, yes. There were a bunch of ideas tossed around if I recall.

>>51623422
Well, if the concern's mostly just Non-Satanic / Undead the sky's the limit. But keeping with the natural theme one possibility is having vampirism transmissible from the assorted hematophage creatures that naturally exist.

Alternatively, it could be the result of having hematophage parasites feeding on one's person (just one or a certain threshold) when Polymorphing / Shapeshifting / Altering Self. Possibly with the caveat that they must drink blood while having done so too.

For example: A Druid wading through standing water makes to Shapeshift into a crocodile without realizing the leeches that have since attached to their person. At some point during the transformation they get into a fight and put their crocodilian jaws to good use, realizing something's wrong almost immediately afterwards as they find the taste of blood not only welcome but missed once it fades.

This longing does not fade over time but grows, with normal food increasingly becoming less filling and less flavorful to them. The butchered boar their party hunted a earlier in the day is only just palatable when soaked in its blood, and even then most of it remains on their plate after having sucked its moisture dry. They find their hunger growing, and with it the craving for fresh lifeblood.

Eventually, the next time they dig their teeth around something in a fight, they don't let go. When the battle's over their party members look at them awkwardly as the druid still holds their twitching enemy between their jaws, the closest ally blanching as they faintly hear the sound of the druid guzzling down warm ichor like a suckling newborn.

Since Druids are one of the first classes to get shapeshifting features / abilities, as well as casters capable of 4th level-or-better spells relatively rare demographically (Levels 1-6 taking up a much larger share of the population than 7+), they'd as a result make up a larger share of Vampires. Lycanthropes too, if the afflictions aren't exclusive.

>>51624422
Seconding this Nasuverse thing. Go go go, read Type-Moon stuff already OP.

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>>51626006
>>51632680
will most definitely use the zendikar aesthetic >>51629035
I'm going to cut out the god of war bit in the nature vamps origin
>>51635549
Nasuverse stuff about the ancient ancestors sounds interesting and I'll give it a read but I could never get into the saber anime

>>51634173
awesome idea

>>51622963
Have them be were-vampire bats

>>51635687
Most vampire lore from Nasuverse is from Tsukihime and some older novels. If I remember correctly, the only mention of vampires on Fate is a brief passage on Fate/Zero, but you can ignore everything related to it.

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>>51635773
transforming into giant werebats would be a cool gift for mortal followers. the catch is that they can't turn back into normal people and are force to guard a vamp's lair.

>>51622963
I'd make them a nocturnal themed dark counterpart to humans.

Eerily human, but uncannily removed and unemotional. A race of sociopaths who feel not feel the inescapable pull towards those close to them. Totally Machiavellian to the point that a bested vampire lord will commit Sudoku instead of risk wounding a superior vampire in a last ditch effort before being killed.

But they understand human nature instinctually like they were human and can manipulate it without feeling.

Basically, even if vampires are magic, don't just make their power over people lolmagic, make them cursed with being (un)dead inside, total edgelords.

>>51635687
>but I could never get into the saber anime

It's a different, parallel world to the vampireverses.

>>51625516
They should have some sort of spiritual connection to carnage and betrayal. Like if they start of war, they'll end up visiting one of the battlefields the night after, relishing in the their succcess.

Just my 5 cents.

>>51629035
Depends on the type of war.
>Not open battle or spamming technologies, but guerilla insurgencies and terrorism.

>>51623673
>>51623189
nice