Correction, Vampirism began its decline with Oblivion. Vampirism had meaning in Morrowind.

And this entire portion of Elder Scrolls lore (which wasn't implemented until Oblivion and was, at that time, exclusive to a single vampire clan) is completely [censored].

I want the sunlight to make me sparkle. I also want random plain looking village girls fall in love with me so it makes the werewolf boys jealous.

Have you tried the Quidditch mini-game in Riften? It's great. I knew I wasn't collective brooms for nothing. Can't wait to find a pair of round glasses, this hood does nothing for my roleplaying.

I imagine that someone out there is already working on a mod for you, then.

I don't know Vampire lore. But that movie Day Breakers, when they don't feed they become a monstours stronger vampire.

I find it mildly amusing that you insist you hate those books, but you continue to compare everything to them. I have not been thinking of Twilight AT ALL. I have been making every comparison to Kyoshi's vampire mod from oblvion, that made being a vampire a rewarding and interesting experience. But if you really want to get back to the root of it all, go to Bram Stoker's Dracula. See what he could do? That's what a skyrim vampire should be able to do, with all the limitations and abilities. That's as lore based as you can get, and it will be almost impossible for people to disagree with it, as well, because...well, it's DRACULA.

THAT'S what i want. And i want everyone who compares it to Twilight Vampires to just get the [censored] out...now.

I've said it before, and i'll say it again; Twilight Vampire= ~tgm. It's as simple as that.

I want our vampires to be fun, exciting, and DIFFERENT from normal gameplay. Give me that, and I'll be satisfied.

Man, Bram Stokers Dracula.

I can really reccomend that book to anyone.
Even after all this time it is still creepy, scary, unsettling, all those things you want from a good vampire story.

The scene where dracula climbs the walls of his castle like a bat..
:shiver:

But also, in TES II: Daggerfall, you didn't actually have to feed. If you didn't kill ANYTHING in 24 hours, you were unable to Rest or Fast Travel. That's it. The sun damage was negligible too, a decent Regeneration or Shield spell could block it out. The only social drawback was that you got booted out of every guild when you became a Vampire (Since you actually did die, and woke up in a crypt), which could've permanently blocked you out of the Thieve's Guild and Dark Brotherhood if you were a member prior to becoming a Vampire (The Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood could only be joined once, and that was by invitation from them).
In TES III: Morrowind, you didn't have to feed AT ALL. You gained a "Vampire's Touch" spell that allowed you to Absorb Health. The sun damage though was just brutal, and you couldn't peacefully interact with anyone, save for like 3-5 NPCs in the entire game. Vampirism was a combat boost only. Unmodded Vampirism in Morrowind just plain svcked ass.

Hello everyone.

New here to the forums, but have been ghosting for a bit and contemplating registering. Decided to go ahead and register anyways.

I'm a big fan of vampires. Always loved them and always will. I too am disappointed by vampirism in TES games because they just don't do vampires much justice. The concept itself is interesting, and though I don't like the system, I know Bethesda did what they did for a certain reason. Allow me to quote the OP and clarify my meaning.



First, the feeding system IS reversed. However, you must understand that if Bethesda were to utilize this system, then players could easily spam-feed on all the townspeople, therefore keeping their powers at maximum. Since video games are intended to challenge one's mind, doing such would contradict that purpose. Bethesda HAD to reverse it and create a history that makes sense within the lore of TES.

The system currently in place also keeps players on their toes about what weaknesses and strengths they'd like to have as a vampire. Having an utterly powerful and god-like vampire can be tiresome at times, and a lot of fans like to roleplay as a weaker vampire in order to concur with a current storyline they've made up for their own personal reasons, possibly also to level out their already powerful character through perks, high skill levels, and currently equipped enchanted armor/weapons. Granted the system Bethesda put in place does not correspond with known non-TES vampire lore, it's in place for a reason.

The fast traveling idea you mentioned is a VERY interesting one. However, its contradictory in its own way. Traveling from one side of Skyrim to the other, could take days. It's not in Bethesda's interests to place your vampire character during fast traveling into a place you have not been to just because your character is a vampire. This would create problems in programming as well as forfeit the very idea of what fast traveling represents: an easy way to move from one place to the other while not actually having to travel there yourself. Why should Bethesda automatically place your vampire in a location you haven't been to? And what if the location you're placed in forces you to be trespassing? Is your vampire a "good" vampire? If so, then he wouldn't want to trespass, right?

Perhaps your idea could be refined. Since there are carriages present in Skyrim, there could be a "vampire carriage" that contains a coffin hidden underneath the carriage to allow vampires to transport safely without running the risk of being caught, or being subjected to sunlight. This would not only maintain the integrity of fast traveling, but also ensure your vampire emerges at the destination during night hours. But Bethesda has not thought of this. Look for mods in the future.


I can agree and disagree with most of the things said in this post. Vampires who don't drink blood are still vampires, just weaker ones (with the exception of TES vampires of course). As I stated above, the system is in place for a reason: to prevent spam-feeding and keeping the maximum powers available to the players without having any weaknesses. To call others "morons" without thinking things through is a bit hypocritical, to say the least. But I understand your reasoning behind the statement, though I disagree with it.

As for the "become necromancers" portion, this makes no sense. Necromancers are ones who can resurrect the dead through magic. So far, TES vampires don't have such an ability. Necromancy is a practice, not a special ability. I believe the word you're looking for would be "undead corpse". The less a vampire feeds, the stronger but weaker he or she becomes.


As always, people are entitled to their own opinions as to what vampires should be in this game. But that's all they are... one's own opinions. This entire post I've made is my own opinion but I'm sure a lot of people here can agree with it. Am I right about the way vampires should work in TES? Possibly. Not saying that I am or am not. It's all my opinion anyways and that's all that matters to me. Besides, Bethesda created a game set in a "fantasy world". Key word here being "fantasy". Though vampires are a fantasy in our own world, vampires are of a different fantasy in the TES world. TES is Bethesda's fantasy. Who are you to argue with it? As others have stated, if vampirism doesn't do it for you in TES games, get the PC version and make your own mod to reflect your beliefs on vampires and how they should work. Until then, if you don't like being a vampire, then don't be one. In fact, you could just "roleplay" as one. I do. Because like you, I don't like vampirism in TES. It's stupid in my opinion as well. I prefer it according to Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Enough said.

Bottom line: this is Skyrim! Enjoy it even if vampires are the same as in Oblivion.

Obviously you have never seen those Snickers commercials with regards to hunger.

i would like this too, which is why I play on the PC, in a few weeks to a month the vampirism mods will start popping up and I can take my pick.

Though I don't agree with your "can't feed if you're at max rejuvenation" thing, only thing i loved about being a vampire in oblivion was to just go into an all-night orgy of feeding, think my record was 46 people bitten in a night, had to travel by horse to a new city once i'd drained the first one (I only bite each person once), guard halls were particularly delicious.

but in anne rice novels the vampires who would not drink for centuries were the most powerful

This is the Elder Scrolls. Not Anne Rice.

Vampires derive sustenance from blood.
They fail to drink blood they gain power, they drink blood they loose power... Wait, what?

If you look at vampire mythology, nevermind popular culture versions of it, this makes no sense.
If you look at it as I described above, it makes no sense.
The *ONLY* way it makes sense is if you cop out along the lines of "its magic!"

I could understand if failing to feed caused more animalistic behavior, more power, less control... ie: "BLOOD, MUST HAVE BLOOD!"
As it stands, its just wonky.

For personal amusemant, I more or less modded vampirism in Oblivion so that sun damage was a constant across all stages, at the same (highest) rate.
The more arcane, skill oriented, etc benefits of vampirism were at the greatest at the lowest stage, whereas the physical, direct-combat skills were at the highest at the later stages.

I suppose I just get to wait on the new toolset to come out, though...

makes perfect sense to me. The more you drink, the less "dead" you are
the less you drink, the mroe DEAD you are. wha'ts not to understand?

It's fiction, it shouldn't work any special way. But if we go back to the old school vampires like Dracula, Carmilla or Ruthven they didn't burn in sunlight. Dracula was weakened though, like the vampires in Skyrim.

Vampirism isn't worth it as of now. Wait for the mods.

The only way for vampirism to actually be worth while is if they made it like in Morrowind and taking that a step further. A clear line of command, a political strife between vampire clans and an "underground" faction to put you through the ranks to becoming a leader of a vampire clan by achieving something none other in the clans could achieve. It should be like in Morrowind that you had to choose clan depending on what type of Vampire you wanted to be and what set of skills you wanted to have. Since being a vampire pretty much alianates you from the human world there should be a counter towards this, showing why vampires show such enmity towards humans, thus making the other world where you serve your matriarch/patriarch that much clearer.

They really did have it right in Morrowind, the only thing they should have done was make it more indepth like choosing between the houses, actually giving you a "world as a vampire to move within". Hacking and slashing just isn't enough reason, I can do that as an orc too, that don't make it any more compelling to play as an orc because that's all they can do. At least vampires in Elder scrolls have a vivid line of story and lore going around. There are several clans, lots of politics and a whole lot of myths that apply only to the vampires, why not use it?

Hunger - leading into the early stages of starvation and in the real world at least- can and does result in a lower threshold for the adrenal fight or flight response as well as increases its intensity. How is it a stretch of the imagination to have vampires whose predatory abilities behave similarly? Or rather, how is that any more of a stretch of the imagination than having vampires in the first place? Is it somehow more believable to have blood function for vampires much in the same way that spinach functions for pop-eye than it is to have a curse which forces someone to consume it like an addict consumes a drug or to hunger for it in the same way that some predatory animals experience hunger? The magical part here isn't some sudden infusion of strength like popeye with his spinach, but instead that the vampire is subjected to hunger much in the same way a cheetah or a lion would be while the curse prevents the atrophy, lethargy, and eventual coma that would ultimately end it for such living creatures.

(The long winded explanation)

Would a human being potentially be capable of performing greater feats of strength and will while starving than after a satisfying meal? Well even in social species which are not particularly predatory by practice - domesticated dogs and humans living in post-industrialized conditions for example- starvation does result in marked increased production of:

Growth Hormone,
Cortisol
Adrenaline

For upwards of 14 days of starvation, blood-glucose-serum levels will remain relatively constant and consistent with normal values; the exception to this would be those with underlying metabolic disorders. This means that for your normal living human being outside of a magical fantasy world would have the same amounts of immediately available fuel for activity but significantly heightened capacity to utilize it rapidly. As the serious threat of death from starvation increases, the threshold for and magnitude of the fight or flight response can increase dramatically. For many predators which rely of bursts of speed and strength to subdue prey, their metabolisms are particularly capable of driving brief periods of incredible exertion and adrenaline production Starving predators have been known to produce such high levels of adrenaline when they are finally able to feed that some can even shrug off the effects of deadly neurotoxins found in cobras while in this state. So yes, even in real living creatures like human beings, the idea that starvation could facilitate feats of inordinate strength and speed is not only a possibility but would be expected under appropriately motivating conditions and the severity the threat posed by starvation and immediacy of possible sustenance would both contribute towards this being more likely.

What a non-fictional starving person would lack would be adequate means to replenish glucose levels used up during a period of significantly elevated fight or flight response - which would likely be unusually intense and draining given the increased sensitivity and responsiveness of the adrenal medulla during starvation. That means that such moments of unusual strength and quickness - useful in seizing fleeting opportunities for nutrition sources which may allow one to escape starvation - are even more draining, biologically costly, and would take far longer to recover from. Each one would significantly hasten the onset of latter more deleterious stages of starvation in which brain function is compromised and vital organs shut down. For humans, we are only able to convert about 1600 calories per day worth of protein and fats to glucose while starving so the potential for adrenaline heightened attempts to seize opportunities for food would have to be quite few and far between and the ability to act in that state could only be maintained briefly.

Now granted, this immediately-available energy in the form of stable normal blood sugar levels is not maintained without a cost besides those brought on by the limited rate at which it can be done. While some of that glucose is converted from fat as well as stores in the liver, muscle protein will provide a significant portion of it as well. After a certain period without food, a real biological creature like a platypus or a narwhal will be getting nearly all of their glucose from converted muscle proteins. So starvation does actually introduce factors which would allow for increased rate and degree of exertion - bursts of strength and speed. For something subejct to the the limitations of real world biology, these same adrenaline and growth hormone secretions that provide the potential for short periods of abnormal strength and reaction also drive the shift from balanced metabolism to mostly catabolic processes; this yields the fuel to keep the organs and muscles working and the glucose in particular to keep the brain conscious and alive but do so by instructing the body to effectively eat itself. The suspension of disbeleif required for the Skyrim and Oblvion vampires is merely that the curse would substitute magic for muscle tissue to provide the energy for mundane biological functioning - but the hunger and heightened/agitated state it induces in predatory creatures would only subside with fresh human blood.

LMHO!!! This is what I was thinking when I saw that link "Its gonna be Edward and Bella, isn't it..."

Yes this. The only thing really wrong with how they've apparently implemented vampirism into Skyrim is that there isn't any narrative around becoming one except for getting cured. The contrast to lycanthropy and the companions is obvious, but I think it might be more useful to consider the Dark Brotherhood. Becoming a vampire is a lot like becoming a member of the dark brotherhood, without the brotherhood. Instead of giving you an interesting quest line with which to persue your character's newfound deviance or even a couple non-hostile NPCs which are similarly deviant like they do with the dark brotherhood, Vampirism imposes the deviant behavior as generic chore you must repeat with some scheduled regularity to avoid significant inconvenience while still reaping noticeable benefits.

A clan home in a similar vein as the brotherhood sanctuary, the clans in Morrowind, or the add-on for Oblivion would make vampirism something more than a thing you will eventually want to have cured before it annoys you to death. Having it stocked with willing thralls such that you need only visit it occaisionally and have the chore of simply feeding for sustinence handled for you. The fun could be hunting and converting high-ranking members of the silver-hands and the vigil of stendarr. Treat targets for conversion in as similar manner as the dark brotherhood quests treat assassination targets. Instead of doing it for the revenge of others and glory of sithis, you do it for the survival and influence of your clan. Today you convert cheif of the Vigil of Stendar for The Rift hold, tomorrow the provincial head, the week after how about the Jarl of Solitude or Windhelm?

What this topic tells me is that need to go back and play Morrowind as a Vampire, which I never did, to find out if Bethesda changed what was reportedly one of the best kinds of Vampirism ever done in a video game.

That is what I get for thinking vampires are stupid, the inability to effectively participate in a serious discussion about the state of Vampires in Tamriel.

My vampire doesn't sparkle in the sun? WTF Bethesda? Way to break traditional vampire lore.