Dracula
The above is a reasonably good representation of what he really looks like. His shapechanging abilities allow him to look much younger when he pleases.
They've spun some pretty good stories, haven't they? "Vlad Tepes, after his lifetime of cruelty, was cursed with immortality and an undying thirst for blood by a --" And here the tale splits, some blaming a Romany vampiress, some a fairy obsessed with the night. "-- and ever since he has haunted the shadows as Dracula!!" Blah, blah, blah, I vant to suck your bluhd.
Feh. All lies. Vlad III was actually well known among the vampires of his era as their unflinching adversary, and while they likely had enough of a sense of irony to have found the notion of transforming him into one of their slaves appealing, by the time he met his death, his body was in no condition to be transformed into one of the undead. Whatever hell he found for himself, it is not this one in which we live. Ask any scholar of Stoker's novel and they'll tell you that his Count is a poor match to the historical impaler, that Stoker was writing about a "Count Wampyr" until some mysterious stranger suggested he use Dracula as his model. (That one's a lie, too, but we'll get to it later.)
Vlad III was married multiple times, and had many children. By a Hungarian noblewoman named Illona, his eldest son was also named Vlad Dracula, who made a claim to the Wallachian throne but never ruled. The younger Vlad's own eldest son was given the name Ladislas Dracula, and became the administrator of Castle Hunedoara.
His two sons, the younger Ladislas Dracula and John Dracula, were granted baronial titles by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1535, in honor of their ancestors' crusades. Ladislas had only one son, also named John, who married a woman named Anna, had no known children, and disappeared from history. And as we all know, where history ends, myth begins.
John Dracula de Band (to use his full name) was a scholarly man. And unfortunately, he was not a particularly wise scholarly man, as his studies soon led him into arcane and esoteric subjects. His wife
did commit suicide, and he may have told himself at some point that his studies were directed towards the possibility of raising her from the dead, but if so he was kidding himself. Eventually, his studies drew the attention of the notorious Scholomance, and he was invited to join this community of magical scholars for a year. His magical powers great terribly great during this time, and he was not the tenth scholar who was taken by the devil. (Which here means, 'was bloodily murdered by his fellow students in a sacrifice to the devil'.) With his new knowledge, it seemed the best thing to do was to ensure that he could continue to exist so as to gain
further knowledge and power, and so he employed his arts to transform himself into a vampire, and has ever since haunted the night.
In the seventeenth century, he managed to inveigle himself into a position of caretaker of certain properties in the Borgo Pass region owned by descendants of his cousin George Dracula de Band after those descendants died out. Almost immediately, he began styling himself Count Dracula. The handful of local heroes who dared to oppose him were defeated with terrible ease, and he took steps to ensure that no tales of his deeds spread beyond the borders of his tiny kingdom. But overall, his was a quiet terror, and he spent most of the eighteenth century and the nineteenth in slumber, his mind traveling along the Crimson Coil, and earthquakes marking his periodic awakenings.
After one such earthquake in 1893, he embarked on his first great war against the world.
The full details of his travels to England have only recently come to light; suffice it to say that he failed to gain the foothold in the West that he sought, and yet retained many agents of his will even after he was forced to flee into the shadows. Such has been the consequence of every one of his campaigns since then -- he never wins, and yet he always ends up with a few advantages that he didn't have before.
He keeps getting stronger.
And now, with so many of his old enemies fallen, and so many advantages within his grasp, he has begun a new war. He has traveled to the new center of the Western World -- New York -- and gathered up all the agents he has recruited over the years. He treats with other masterminds as he never has before. So far, only the Raven has learned of what haunts New York's nights, though he has begun to gather old allies and new against this threat. Perhaps it will be enough.
Or perhaps a new dark age, where monsters freely roam, will begin.
Dracula -- PL 13
STR 7 |
STA - |
AGL 5 |
DEX 5 |
FGT 10 |
INT 5 |
AWE 4 |
PRE 7
Powers: Blood Drain (Weaken Stamina 12 [Resisted by Fortitude], Grab-Based, Limited to Draining 1 rank per round),
Blood Link (Mental Communication 3, Limited to anyone who drinks his blood; Mind-Reading 8, Sensory Link, Limited to anyone who drinks his blood),
Shapechanging (Morph 4; AP: Concealment 5 [all visual and hearing] and Insubstantial 2),
Sorcery (Perception Ranged Cumulative Affliction 13 [Resisted and Overcome by Will; Impaired, Disabled, Incapacitated], Dynamic, Insidious, Subtle, Variable Descriptor [Emotions], DAP: Summon Animals 2 (Bats, Rats, or Wolves), Horde, Mental Link, Multiple Minions 6, DAP: Environment 10 (3 points of effect), Selective),
Spider-Climb (Movement 1 [Clinging]),
Undead Invulnerability (Immortality 6, Limited [not when staked or beheaded]; Immunity 30 [Fortitude effects]; Impervious Protection 12, Limited [not against holy weapons], Regeneration 10, Source [blood]).
Advantages: Benefit 4 (Wealth), Connected, Fascinate (Persuasion), Improved Critical (Blood Drain), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Leadership, Power Attack, Ritualist, Startle
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+14), Deception 12 (+19), Expertise: Magic 14 (+19), Insight 4 (+8), Intimidation 12 (+19), Perception 8 (+12), Persuasion 12 (+19), Stealth 8 (+13)
Offense: Initiative +9, Unarmed +14 (Close Damage 7), Blood Drain +14 (Close Weaken Stamina 12, Critical 19-20)
Defenses: Dodge 14, Parry 14, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 12, Will 13.
Totals: Abilities 76 + Powers 155 + Advantages 14 + Skills 37 + Defenses 22 = 297
Complications: Power--Motivation. Compulsion (Must be invited into any dwelling he does not own).
Power Loss (All powers except Undead Invulnerability cannot be used in daylight hours.)
Weakness (Can be held back by a holy symbol in the hands of a believer or by garlic).
Bride of Dracula -- PL 9
STR 6 |
STA - |
AGL 1 |
DEX 2 |
FGT 6 |
INT 1 |
AWE 2 |
PRE 3
Powers: Blood Drain (Weaken Stamina 9 [Resisted by Fortitude], Grab-Based, Limited to Draining 1 rank per round),
Blood Link (Mental Communication 3, Limited to anyone who drinks her blood; Mind-Reading 6, Sensory Link, Limited to anyone who drinks her blood),
Spider-Climb (Movement 1 [Clinging]),
Undead Invulnerability (Immortality 6, Limited [not when staked or beheaded]; Immunity 30 [Fortitude Effects]; Impervious Protection 7, Limited [not against holy weapons]; Regeneration 10, Source [blood]).
Advantages: Attractive, Fascinate (Persuasion), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Startle
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+9), Deception 7 (+10), Expertise: Magic 4 (+5), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 9 (+12), Perception 8 (+11), Persuasion 10 (+13), Stealth 9 (+10)
Offense: Initiative +5, Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 6), Blood Drain +9 (Close Weaken Stamina 9)
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 7, Will 8.
Totals: Abilities 32 + Powers 68 + Advantages 6 + Skills 28 + Defense 18 = 152
Complications: Slavish Loyalty--Motivation. Compulsion (Must be invited into any dwelling the master does not own).
Power Loss (All powers except Undead Invulnerability cannot be used in daylight hours.)
Weakness (Can be held back by a holy symbol in the hands of a believer or by garlic).
The woman called Mary Morstan by Bram Stoker is one of Dracula's current brides; unlike the other two, she has AWE 3 and the Motivation Unwilling Loyalty. Dracula can have more brides, but making one puts him and the new bride in a vulnerable state until they recover. He can have male brides, he just chooses not to do so.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."