V is for Vampire

I'm sure there are a lot of vampires on V day during the April A-Z blog challenge. Actually, Tim over on The Other Side blog has spent his entire month on vampires. I, on the other hand, do not use vampires as much as I probably should in my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game.

There is quite the history of vampires in WFRP. The Black Library novels has given us the tales of Genvieve, Ulrika, and the von Carstein family. The problem I always have with vampires, other than them being far too popular in the fantasy and horror realms these days, is the fact that GMs often run them under-powered. Let me highlight some of the powers I'm talking about, from WFRP at least:


  • Vampires have spellcasting abilities of a level four magician, with a free choice of either Battle Magic and Necromantic magic. Boom. Already a creature PCs shouldn't want to mess with. But there's more.
  • Vampires can shapechange into a giant wolf or a giant bat.
  • A vampire may control friendly undead within 24 yards.
  • The gaze of a vampire can have a hypnotic effect, with a character failing a WP check becoming the vampire's slave. 
  • A vampire may become ethereal, at which time it is immune to non-magic weapons. WFRP is not a magic-heavy setting.
These creatures are extremely high powered. A GM playing them low-powered is taking something away from the creature. Good luck if you encounter one as a player!

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