Blade and the Vamps

[Stark]

Hiya there, first, I'd like to thank you guys who worked so hard to make this awesome book. I agree with most of the CADs you've made and I cannot say the same about the official books. Very nice work...

However, I just have a tiny problem with Blade's CAD, or maybe the generic vampire's aptitudes that can be found in the appendix and you can probably explain it better to me.

Here it is: I never have really read any book about Blade, but I've seen the movies and some episodes. I saw him perform some of his moves and was simply amazed about how much powerful he seemed. Then I saw his CAD and thought that he didn't seem that much powerful. I told to myself that maybe the Blade from the movies was a bit overpowered, just to make a good show of special effects and impressive battles and all; and I also reasoned that his stats were still impressive, so I decided i would leave them that way in my game.

Then, when I saw the average vampire's stats in the appendix, I simply didn't understood anything anymore. The average vampire is more agile and speedier than Blade, as strong and just a bit less durable. They only have 3 less in close combat. Of course, they usually don't carry tons of weaponry on them, but even so, from the movies, Blade seemed to the vampires what the Punisher looks like from a typical thug's point of view... Much stronger, faster and sturdier than them, not to mention better armed and more trained (Typical thugs only have 1 in every ability except for the 2 in speed, as well as only 1 in close combat. Compared with the all-3s physical stats of the Punisher, plus his 7th level combat skills, Castle totally kick their collective butts).

But when comparing Blade to his foes, I think he would be torn to shreds by less than a handful of the bloodsuckers, which is totally not fitting with the movies at all (walking in a room full of vamps and dusting them all in a couple of minutes in the first). So who is the real Blade? Was the one from the comics having this much trouble surviving, much less eradicating his nemesises? Were the movies totally not in respect of the characters? Is Blade stronger than the one on your CAD or is it the vampires who are too strong?

I would really appreciate it if you could clarify this for me, because I intend to make the return of the vampires in our dimension a major plot in my game, and Blade a major player in the times to come... so I need them to be reasonably like the ones in the comics, 'cause these are the ones I am supposed to be using, not those in the movies (if they're really that different, that is).

Thanks in advance!

[Kaimontfendo]

I could be wrong about this, but I thought that Blades weapons do double damage to vampires. Blade uses weapons involving silver. Vampires take double damage from silver. Thus, double damage.

Additionally, the supplemental rules section includes a rule for slaying vampires by steaking them. I'm having trouble finding the vampire stats right now, but if Blade's trying to steak them instead of just mindlessly attacking them, they probably don't stand a chance.

[Stark]

A couple maybe, but staking in the heart requires putting enough stones in the action to exceed the target's defense plus his durability stones, which is actually a lot (but it is reasonable to say it's supposed to be). So Blade could theorically kill one or two of the vamps (and lose almost all his energy doing it, even if he doesn't transfer anything in defense), regenerate 6 energy thanks to his healing factor the following turn (if he wasn't harmed at all, that is) and be able to stake in the heart only a vamp by turn(and still, no defense here, if he wishes to successfully stake in the heart). Not pretty much efficient if there's like 5 vampires around at the same time (either you kill two and get killed by the 3 others, or do not put enough stones in attack to harm a single one but being able to defend for a while). Double damage only applies if you actually do some red stones of damage to the target, so with 9 energy each, the vamps will be hard to hit, even for Blade. And he needs the defense, cause these guys have fangs as a +2 modifier to close combat attacks..

[Kaimontfendo]

Hmm... Well, Blade doesn't need to worry about his defense too much. 3 stones get taken off from almost every attack, (Reflexive Dodge 2 and Body armor 1), and the standard vamps (yeah, I found the stats) can only make a 7-stone attack at best, leaving them poorly defended, and rather tired. Unforunately for Blade, they have better agility, so they get to attack first. Perhaps Blade's agility should be a point higher. (Or better yet, a vamp's agility lower.) Of course, some may not try to attack, but instead just run, in which case, Blade can still get them with a ranged attack.

Secondly, I'd suggest adding a "Vampire Slaying" specialty to Blade's close combat, to give him a free stone or two when tryng to stab them in the heart. Perhaps he could also benefit from a specialty in "fighting multipule opponents", but if allowed to use more than one specialty at a time, anyone could quickly become very dangerous. (Which is why I wouldn't allow it, and why Blade wouldn't need it.)

Lastly, although I'm not very familliar with Blade (I've seen about five minutes of the first movie, and that's about it), I'd kinda like to see just how well he fights against vampires. I'd definately be willing to play either side in a brawl, maybe even several brawls. If that sounds good to you, just let me know.

[Jet]

Vampires are far too strong in books, they should have a lot less agility, i'd say 3 is good enough, since most peak human heros can fight with them equally (at least, I dont think Elektra would had problems). Also, Close Combat 3? Were they trained or what? 2 combined with 3 agility already gets 5, which is much stronger than most thugs and bandits.

As for Blade himself- his body armor should be +2 - its a great armor, much better than normal kevlar vests. And that would solve the problem, I think.

[Stark]

Agreed. Most vamps were homeless or weak persons killed in back alleys or teenagers killed in nightclubs, so they shouldn't get more than 1 or 2 in Close combat (2 being uncommon, but still often seen), neither should their agility (or speed, for all it matters) be so high. Since Blade has been training for a very long time, I would tend to put his own strength at 5 and maybe his agility at 4. His speed of 2 seems all right to me, if other vamps have the same thing. You're right about the armor, it definetly is better than normal kevlar and was designed specifically to face undead monsters with superhuman strength, so I would put it at +2 to defense too. This is starting to feel a lot more like the movies.

Thanks for the offer for brawls, kaimontfendo, but I think these changes will fit for my game nicely enough. I've tested them and they do look great.

[Stark]

By the way, if what you've seen of Blade was this scene, you pretty much know of a good part of what he's capable of ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0mx0dBXkw4

(The action really start at 3:05.)

[Neros]

I would like to note, that vampires in Marvel (as far as i could see in the movies) arent that powerful unless they are elder vampires... Just look at the movie clip... Teenagers in a nightclub? *BLAM* Where??... Henchmen which have atleast some training? *Slash*, *hack*, *swirp*... easy as pie

So either, Blade is one hell of a fighter or vampires are very weak... But generally, i just like to think they pumped up the movie so it would look cooler...

[Stark]

As I mentioned earlier, I beleive Blade is a bit (not a lot, but still) better than in the Spidey Book, AND that vampires are a bit (again, not a lot, but they're anyway)weaker.

Older vampires are indeed much more powerful with a lot of freakish abilities (think Deacon Frost and Dracula.... the "REAL" ones from the books, not the big-brute-feral Dracula from the movie), while newbie vamps are mostly undead humans that drink blood with enhanced strength and all around better-than-average aptitudes, and that turn to dust when staked in the heart or exposed to the sun's rays.

In a sense, Marvel Vampires are a lot like Buffy the Vampire Slayer's.

"Newborn" vamps are almost easy to kill ("easy" is a relative term) even for a normal human if he knows how to kill them, while centuries-old bloodsuckers can slaughter their way out of hundreds of hapless humans, beat down professional vampire slayers like Blade, hold their own against most mutants and heroes known until they finally get banished by a dude like Doctor Strange...

[tomasina]

I know it sounds like an easy way out... but the joy of the system is that you are free to change the CAD to fit your view of Blade. We based our CADs on our own research and understanding... but that does not always mean that it is correct in everyones eyes.

Glad you are enjoying the material!

Tomasina

[Stark]

You got that right. Still, the only reason I didn't like Blade's C.A.D is because I prefer the Blade in the movies, but I beleive he was more like you guys made him in the comics. I really like everything else you've made in this guide, and I thank you again for it!

Keep up the good work!