Rifts Magic Users are amazing creatures who are not bound by level, to a set number of spells they can learn, they can learn as many as someone will teach them, they can read off of scrolls, or they buy from magic shops.. In this manner, you could have a 1st level mage, who has not proceeded on to the next level, with hundreds of spells( yes there really are that many) My Gm, while mostly Liberal with my spell knowledge, did not allow me to have hundreds by Level two, but I did have 87 by the time I was "reborn" in character as a vampire.. And even though the book plainly states I should have gotten to keep half of my magics, that number was reduced by the game master top 21 invocations.. This is what my Vampire Retained from his old life, when he was a magic user.. A specific note on this is, that no matter how long my Vampire lives after being "reborn" his spell casting level never increases, he can not improve his personal PPE, and therefore can never have a score over his base 100 PPE, even if he is in direct contact with a ley line( yes Tenaria has Ley Lines) The Strength of the Invocation is the same, no matter how long I Play him, or what is near him. In this regard, the magics are frozen, and never increase..
( for those rule mongers of you out there, who think I am blowing this shiznite out my arse, please go to your nearest book store, find rifts world book, number one Entitled "Vampire Kingdoms" Turn to page 15, the description of Secondary vampires, and on the left hand side of the page, under the sub heading Combat, half way through the Paragraph in bold letters is the word Note.. It will verify everything I have said here in regards to vampires being able to retain magic.)
Storms Special Abilities:
Being a 12th level Vampire from rifts origins gives Storm some rather strange powers, the aforementioned magics, not withstanding, he also has some very powerful Natural abilities that are given to Rifts Vampires. Among these are Metamorphosis,Summon Vermin, Summon Canines, and Summon Fog, as well as LImited Invulnerability, Super Regeneration, and Eternal Life.. Resting well in the Knowledge that I could not begin to describe these abilites to you, I am going to give you the best description of them that I can..
Metamorphosis:
A True Vampire of any variety(Master, Secondary, or Wild) can instantly transform into a large bat, wolf , or mist. The Transformation takes about seven seconds to completer , or about the quivalent of two melee actions( Not Two Rounds, simply two of his five actions per Melee). While in Non-Human form, the vampire retains it's intelligence, identity, and basic supernatural powers, (like invulnerability), but can not speak, perform skills, or in mist form use it's psionic powers. The types of attacks and actions are limited to the form the undead has adopted. Since each metamorphosis grants the vamprie special abilities inherent to that particular animal, or form( this unlike the magical invocation metamorphosis). Thus the bat is often used for quick escape and transportation, the wolf for spying and combat, the mist for gaining access through crevices, and for escape.
One of the most bizarre abilites of the metamorphosis is that the vampire's clothing, and other small personal articles, such as Jewelry money in pockets, and weopons, all disapear, but when the humanoid shape is resumed, the clothes and personal articles, all reappear.
**** a personal side note here: for the purpose of Storms weapons, who according to the book , would probably be too large to take with him, when he metamorphs, I must remind you that they are all bound to him, their creators, making sure that they would be with him, no matter what form he was in.. Therefore, they float as an exception to the rule****
Vampire Bat Abilities:
Fly: Speed of 50(35 mph/56 kmph)
Sonar Ecoloction enables the vampire to see/maneuvar/fly in total darkness at full speed and see the invisible.
Ultrasonic Hearing Hears hight and low frequencies,:very acute. Can hera a moth's wings beating, but can not understand spoken word.. ( too slow)
Thermo Imaging Optics: Close Range, 10 feet/3m; for sensing and seeing the heat emanations of warm blood coursing through the veins, but can not see the infared light.
Combat: +2 to strike, +3 to parry and dodge, +8 to dodge in flight, plus 5% 0n prowl ability. 2 apm(half Normal) bite inflicts 2d6 sdplus ps bonus. CAN inflict vampire slow kil bite and drink blood while in bat form.
Wolf Abilities:
Run Speed of 58(40mph/64km)
Track by scent 70% and leap 20 feet across, and 6 feet high.
Combat: +2 to strike, +1 to parry, +4 to dodge, +1 on iniative, +15 on prowl ability.
6 apm( ads one to normal) Bite inflicts 5d6 sd, no PS bonus
Mist Abilities:
Speed: 11(7.5mph/12 km)
Impervious to all physical attacks, including wood, silver, fire, and most magic, Still Vulnerable to water, and elemental magic. Can slide under doors, through cracks and crevices, key holes etc.. and rematerilize on the other side.
Combat: NONE, cannot attack while in mist form. Can perform movement, mellee actions only. +10 on prowl ability, ( although silent, the mist is very large and obvious) CAN NOT USE PSIONIC POWERS IN MIST FORM, BUT CAN USE THEM IN ANIMAL FORM.
Summon Vermin:
The vampire can use his earth elemental powers to summon forces of nature. In this case, vermin include rats, mice, flies, gnats and cockroaches. Storm can summon 1,200 rats or Mice +3d4x10(trust me that is alot). The Horde of Rodents, has a horror factor of 9 and can bite, inflicitng one sdc/hp point of damage on unprotected victims as they swarm under and around people(they also do about 1d6+1 per melee) They also create a surprising amount of noise and are quite distracting.
Up to 6,000 flies,Gnats, or cockroaches, can be summoned. Flies and Gnats create an annoying and icky cloud of insects( horror factor 6). They Inflict no damage but impair normal vision and optic systems. Their Buzzing also creates a massive audio disturbance, rendering enhanced hearing uselsess. Cock raoches( horror Factor 9) are just discusting, tickle when they crawl against bare flesh, crunch when stepped on, and crawl on everything and everybody in their path. Like the flies, the roaches will cause disorientation by convering optic lenses, view ports, and sensors. Storm retains Control of these hordes for 240 minutes.
Penalties from a horde of vermin: Lose one melee attack, -4 on iniative, -1 to strike, -2 to parry and dodge, Vision/optics reduced by 75% and any form of enhanced hearing is void, from insects. Not impaired by rodents.
Summon Canines:
Storm can summon up to 84 wolves or dogs. The pack of angry looking canines has s horror factor of 8. Generally each canine has two or three attacks per melee, and inflicts id6 sdc/hp points of damage on unportedcted victims, they can be vicious and deadly, opponents and make fine watch dogs. Storm maintains control of this pack, for up to 240 minutes each time he uses this ability.
Summon Fog:
Old and experienced vampires, level 7 and higher, can create a thick and unnatural fog, similar to the summon fog spell. However, unlike the spell, the vampire can direct the fog to move and roll along exeactly where he desires it to go. A fog is often summoned forth to cover a vampires activities, or to create fear and confusion.
The Fog can cover an area of one mile, and is so thick that an individual cannot see clearly beyond four feet. Blurred shapes and shadowy figures are all that can be seen for an additional 10 feet and beyond that, only a grey wall of mist. Within the misty curtain lurks the vampire, waiting to strike. Details for traveling in the fog are identical to the spell found on pg 186 of RIFTS. The Duration is 240 minutes each time he uses the ability.
Limited Invulnerability:
Normal weapons of steel and energy inflict no damage to these demonic abominations. Not the blaskt of a rail gun, nor the energy bolt from a particle beam will hurt a "true" vampire. This means that Energy blasts, electricity, explosives, bullets, blades of steel, ascid, radiation, disease, etc., do absoluetely NO damage!! Nor does alcohol, drugs, anesthetics, poisons, toxic gasses, fumes, or smoke have any effect. Fire and cold are also meaningless, to the undead while the walk the earth.
The impact of a rail gun, explosion, or the power punch of a robot will knock the undead creature off its feet( loses one melee attack). But an energy blast or the bite of a sword will damage only its clothing, while its undead flesh is untouched. Note: see to kill a vampire(rifts world book one pg.26)for ways to destroy the monsters.
The vampire's invulnerability, coupled with the super regenerative powers means that the creatures are not affected by poision or disease, that may be in a person's blood, including cancer and AIDS; not even for a moment. Likewise, alcohol has no effect, good or bad, on Vampires. Nor can Vampries pass along disease.
Super Regeneration:
A vampire can survive, even keep functioning as normal, with wooden spear through the head, or a severed limb, but the undead does experience pain, and can be temporarily imobilized from accumulative hit point damage. When a vampire has been reduced to near zero hit points, he knows he is in jeopardy, not from immediate death, but from lasping into a recuperative coma, that will make him vulnerable to further attack. A Vampire can fight up to 20 points below zero!
At minus 21 the creature drops to the ground and appears to be ded. Chopping off its head will further enhance the illusion of death, but in reality, mearly prologns thet hime needed to regernerate. The death-like appearance is a regenerative stasis state. Unless proper measures are taken to truly kill the vampire, it will live anew, possibly regaining consciousness, in a matter of minutes, and fully restored in hours. A vampire must be destroyed in very specific ways or the moster will rise again, such is the vampire's power to regenerate.
A vampire can regenerate phy6sical damage at a pace that no other known creature can equal. Entire limbs, eyes, hair, skin, gorw back in a matter of minutes. The Entire body can re-form overnight(8hrs) an arm 45 minutes, a leg 60 minutes, lower body 4 hours, upper body 6 hours. A decapitated head, left laying nearby can merge back with the body, by slowly disolving into a mist and reforming with the body about 20 minutes. Hit points are automaticly regenerated at a arate of 2d6 per melee. The Transofrmation from skeletal remains to living vampire. The enter super-regeneration takes less than 15 seconds. (rifts World book one, pg 25..)
Eternal life:
Vampires are said to be immortal. This is true only in a conditional sense, as there are actually numerous ways to permanately destory the undead. but destroyed they must be, or the ghastly abominations will rise again.
Vampires may seem immortal because they are impervious to fire, cold, poison, energy weapons, and many other things that hurt or kill humans. The creature's regenerative powers, and superhuman attributes also seem to grant immortality. And they never age.
Theoretically, an undead vampire can exsist for millions of years. The creatures of the night are linked to their ultimate creator, the vampire intelligence,. As long as the vampir eintelligence lives, so does the humanoid, undead vampire. If the intelligence is destroyed then all of it's fragmented essences die with it, be it 10 or 10 million scattered accross three dimensions. All suddenly crumble into dust, and sceast to exist. However the destruction of an intelligence is a rare occerence, it is far easier to deal with undead vampires one at a time, for an indvidual vampire can be destroyed without killing the alien intelligence.
( with the exception of certain details pretaining to Storms level, and such, These paragraphs were taken Verbatim, from Rifts Source book one "VAMPIRE KINGDOMS", and can be found in that book, pages 1-25.)
