I think you should last a bit longer in sunlight, or maybe have a quest to get SOME immunity to it. But they should definitely amp up the benefits and downsides.

I don't know about anyone else, but I want the special ability to turn others into vampires and make them my servants. Overall I think vampires should have more diversity from regular players in having various abilties that make them stand out. In Oblivion, they just grew stronger, some attributes were raised and got some magical powers. I think BGS could really do something interesting and unique with transformations this time around if they make it into the final product. One thing BGS continues to mention is how they want to visually show the player what they are doing with magic. I think this should also apply with transformations.

Actually, it doesn't have to break lore, and therefore won't b e stupid. People are asking for different clans, well... A Cyrodiil vampire coven or simply one vampire can journey into Skyirm and start "breeding", bringing their clan to Skyrim. So no, it doesn't break lore, only enhance it and make it more real.

The vampires of TES can vary a LOT depending on what type of vampire it is. There are many clans/bloodlines that are different (mainly depending on their own regions).

The ones in Skyrim, Volkihar, live under frozen lakes. They have the power to freeze their victims and to reach through ice without breaking it. They don't leave their dens except to feed.

However this doesn't mean that the only vampires/bloodlines in Skyrim have to be the Volkihar.

There is a lot of room for Beth to move around with in regards to different vampire types, powers, strengths and weaknesses.

In regards to the Volkihar, I think it's obvious that you should have immunity to any kind of freezing/cold damage. You should have the ability to freeze people with your breath, reach through ice, etc. It only makes sense.

Also as you are a vampire longer, you should grow more and more powerful.

If we were to try to refute that with lore, we might say that a cyrodiilic vampire infestation would be considered a severe threat to Skyrim vampires, who would work to eradicate it as quickly (and likely as successfully) as possible.


But it's not even really a matter of tweaking lore. Cyrodiilic vampires, in the sense of "Vampires that can pretend they're not" are 'been there, done that,' and even besides that, IMO they weren't that great.
They represent a style that has already been put forth. In this new game that is Skyrim, I don't want the same-old that was present in the last game. I want to see what it is that Skyrim has to uniquely offer to me as an experience. And that just so happens to encompass vampires. Not just one clan, but the whole idea of it as it revolves around this far-grungier and darker experience that they're building for us. And frankly, vampires that can't (and don't really want) to hide their nature are things that tie in just fine with that.

Throwing a Cyrodiilic strand, or a Cyrodiilic-strand-lookalike into Skyrim, when what should be there is something new and interesting, seems to me to be wasting opportunity.

Considering the perk system that will show up, I think vampirism (and lychomorphy) should be handled within it.

There will be some straight up attribute/skill increases, primarily in the stealth archetype, but also special abilities and weaknesses.

Sunlight should be very lethal, going out in the day is a death sentence, if the sun is obscured (blizzard, rain, solar eclipse) you suffer from stat decreases and the like.

A high importance on speechcraft (or whatever skill replaces it) is placed if you want to get anything done. Helms and hoods help to decrease the levels needed, Illusion skill can also be used as well as high level vampiric abilities.

The more you feed, and how diversely you feed affects your growth. Feeding on one guy will eventually kill him, if you choose not to over-drink and kill him outright, and will not get you very far. Feeding off different races gives different affects, a vampire who feeds off solely Khajitt will be different than one who feeds off solely argornians, who will both be different than one who has a varied diet. There will be benefits and drawbacks to all feeding methods. Your stain could become dependent on a single race type, and have lesser benefits from drinking the blood of other races.

As you further refine your strain and become more powerful, you will eventually gain the ability to form your own clan and create your own "children", assuming you weren't bitten by a vampire of a clan, in which case this is much harder to do. Your children will follow your feeding methods, suffering if the town they live in does not have enough cattle, but they can be convinced to move elsewhere or to your clan's lair.

Cyrodillic vampires have not the exclusive of blending in society. In 'immortal blood' are mentioned the Bonsamu (one of the vampire trive form Vallenwood), who are indistinguishable from bosmers. And the same text, mentions the Volkihar as the most powerful vampire tribe from eastern Skyrim, so there are other tribes especially in other areas.

The Cyrodiilic vampires would have the advantage of being able to stay in the light, however. And most Skyrim vampires (of which, I think it must be understood, would probably not all be Skyrim origin (because I am sure after all this time and how long vampires live, they travel, a lot. Esp evil ones, lol.)), would have trouble getting around even at night. The Cyrodiilic vampires would act like normal people, living in towns, etc. And, granted that even non-Cyrodiilic (I say this because I can't simply say Skyrim strains, because, again, they may not originally be from Skyirm) can live in towns, it'd be at night when they come out. And I doubt a vampire war would be something so simple. In fact, they may not even kill each-other so soon into the fight. I imagine a lot of battles and multiple fights between the same people before one finally dies. Or they team up and 'cheat.'

I liked the Cyrodiilic vampires. And it is something that has been port forth before, yes, but having them there along with new clans, both Skyrim-originating strains and others who possibly who migrated there, would make it even more interesting! Or at least I think so, lol. Have a good (#) of strains/clans in Skyrim, even including the Cyrodiil-strain vampire immigrants. Hm. And vampire wars! Yes, actually... good example you used. We can have vampire wars. But that's not this topic!!! UGH!!! This topic is about attributes... Sigh... I'll stop this now, lol. Maybe you should start a similar topic to our's, maybe, ThatOneGuy? I am not good at it, lol.

I would think that there would definitely be vampires in Skyrim. In a skill book in Oblivion there was the story of the hand-to-hand master visiting a priest who was an expert on vampires and he would continually pick the brain of the priest for info on how to hunt them. In Immortal Blood, the loremasters at Bethesda described many types of vampires, and said that there were several types in Skyrim. Of those types the most prolific was a vampire clan that could reach through ice and walk through it as well. A vampire perfectly suited to the northern climate.

So I would definitely think, with all of the work going into this game, that there may even be several different choices of vampire to become.

Just some blood for thought.

bliviongate:

Sounds like too much to put into one feature, tbh, lol. Not saying I don't love it, but that could become like 'half' of the game, in a sense, lol. Not in a literal sense, of course, but an exaggeration. It'd be great if something like that were developed into a great vampire game, though! But then again, I am not a programmer or anything, but I feel as if it'd be too large.

Well vampire clans with different questlines, some unique powers and different relationships with other fraction or NPC.