Templates up for review

[Adin]

Hi all, long time lurker, short time poster.

Anyway, I'm currently converting a home brew RPG and campaign setting into the DFRPG since it is far more elegant than my system.  (Plus my setting was loosely based on the Dresden Files in the first place.)  To that end I was hoping you knowledgeable fellows and fellowesses could look over these playable creature templates and tell me what you think of them mechanically, or any comments on flavor you think are appropriate. 

Grey Court Vampire: (I know everyone uses Grey as their extra court, but their aren't that many vampirey colors to choose from.) Loosely based on Let the Right One In style Vampires.

   Your High Concept must reflect your vampiric nature.  Turning someone else into a vampire requires taking them out through blood drinking, followed by invoking your vampiric High Concept as you then feed the target your blood.  Failing to spend a fate point will cause the transformation to either fail, or botch.  A botch can potentially produce a Dhampir. 

Powers:
(-2) Undead (custom power:)
   *No Death result is permanent unless taken out by one of their catches, or their head is removed from their body.  The character no longer ages. 
   *Many things are less harmful to undead then they might be to humans.  A vampire 'taken out' by extreme cold would still freeze, but could be thawed out later with no permanent harm.  Undead do not need to breathe. 
   *Unlike the Living Dead power, an Undead character still heals at the same rate as a mortal (or faster when combined with recovery powers,) and appears to be a gaunt and pale human.
(-1) Claws
(-1) Blood Drinker
(+1) Feeding Dependency (Blood)
(-4) Supernatural Recovery
(-2) Inhuman Toughness
(+4) The Catch: (Direct Sunlight, Fire, and Holy Stuff)
   *In addition to bypassing toughness and recovery, Sunlight also causes horrific burns dealing one point of physical stress per exchange spent in direct sunlight.  A Grey Court Vampire Taken Out by sunlight bursts into flames and dies.

Total Template Cost (-5)

   While this represents the minimum powers of a freshly turned vampire, they can also take any of the following abilities that they can afford.  With age and increased refresh a Grey Court Vampire will gain most, or even all, of these abilities.

(-2/-4) Inhuman/Supernatural Strength
(-2/-4) Inhuman/Supernatural Speed
(-4) Supernatural Toughness
(-6) Mythic Recovery
(-1) Beast Change
(-2) Mimic Form
(-4) True Shapeshifting
(-3) Gaseous Form
(-2) Domination
(-2) Master Dominator
(-3) Possession
(-1) Spider Walk
(-1) Supernatural Sense
(-1) Addictive Saliva
(-1) Flight: (as the Wings Power without visible propulsion)


Dhampir:

   You are a Grey Court Dhampir and your High Concept must reflect your nature.  A Dhampir may be created out of a botched attempt to turn someone into a Grey Court Vampire, the result of a very freshly turned vampire mating with a mortal woman, the extremely unlikely result of draining a pregnant woman to death with the child surviving, or the child of two Dhampirs.  A Dhampir can be turned into a full Grey Court Vampire just like a mortal, but their high concept can be invoked to resist most other supernatural, transformative effects.

Powers:
(-1) Blood Drinker
(+0) Dhampir's Constitution (Identical to Wizard's Constitution)

Total Template Cost (-1)

   While this represents the minimum powers of a Dhampir, they can also take any of the following abilities that they can afford.  With time, a Dhampir can gain most or even all of these abilities.

(-2) Inhuman Strength
(-2) Inhuman Speed
(-2) Inhuman Toughness
(-4) Supernatural Recovery
(+2) Catch: (Fire/Holy Stuff)
(-2) Domination
(-1) Supernatural Sense
(-1) Addictive Saliva


Lycanthrope:  No relation to the DF style lycanthrope, these are more along the lines of the classic movie werewolf.  Loosely based on the Monster Hunter International Werewolf

   Your High Concept must reflect your Lycanthropic Nature.  Lycanthropy is transmitted like a disease.  Any time a mortal character is bitten by a transformed lycanthrope, they must spend a fate point to avoid infection.  A transformed Lycanthrope is completely uncontrolled, and tremendously powerful hybrid of wolf and human.  Typically they are as much a threat to their friends as to their foes in this form, unless their friends are part of their declared “Pack.”

Powers:
(+0) Curse of Lycanthropy: Anyone who survives being bitten by your transformed state must spend a fate point to avoid being infected with the curse.
(-1) Pack Instincts
(-1) Echoes of the Beast
(-4) Supernatural Recovery
(+4) The Catch: (silver) Very researchable and almost anyone can reasonably gain access to it.
(-1) Beast Form
(+1) Slow Change: The change takes between 30 seconds and a minute to complete during which no actions may be taken other than free actions.
(+2) Human Form / Involuntary Change (at Full Moon,) applies to:
(-1) Demonic Co-Pilot
(-2) Inhuman Strength
(-2) Inhuman Toughness
(-1) Claws

Total Template Cost (-6)

   While this represents the minimum powers of a Lycanthrope, they can also take any of the following abilities that they can afford.  At high Refresh levels a Lycanthrope can gain most, or even all of these abilities.  The lycanthrope may also“buy off” their Slow Change and Involuntary Change with refresh, allowing them to change as a supplemental action and/or at will.

(-4) Supernatural Strength
(-2/-4) Inhuman/Supernatural Speed
(-4) Supernatural Toughness
(-6) Mythic Recovery
(-2) Hulking Size

[polkaneverdies]

First off welcome to the boards. It is always nice when a lurker steps out of the shadows.
Second the game sounds like it could be quite interesting. If I am recalling the right series they were entertaining.
I am a little pressed for time so I can't get into to many details but I did want to say the custom undead power strikes me as being underpriced.
It has the same -1 as living dead but not the significant downsides. Still being able to heal is quite significant. Additionally it seems as though you have given them physical immunity to environmental damage for the same cost.

[Adin]

Thanks, I appreciate the help!

I tend to agree with you about my undead power, I didn't think that one through well enough.  The only reasons I went with such a low cost were because I tend to feel living dead is overpriced given its negatives and should be (+0,) and I figure that those environmental factors were sufficiently uncommon as to not be a cost issue.  That said, in hindsight I completely agree with you. 

I figure I'll be better off eliminating the environmental resistance, increasing the price, and making the power's primary trapping be no death result being permanent without satisfying the catch or decapitation.  That way environmental factors like extreme cold could still freeze them into a vampiricicle, but allow them to be defrosted with no permanent harm done which fits their flavor better.

(In the events of the game so far we have had grey court vampires stabbed in the heart, telekinetically tearing off their own burning skin with magic, and dashing their entrails out on a mountaintop whilst flying over it in gale force winds, in a draconic beastform, trying to avoid the Erlking's Wild Hunt (the PC's were riding him at the time,) all without any more than incapacitation until they could heal.  Since they don't look like rotting cadavers I figured a custom power was in order.)

So here is the revised power:

(-2) Undead (custom power:)
   *No Death result is permanent unless taken out by one of their catches, or their head is removed from their body.  The character no longer ages.  This power must be linked to a catch.
   *No need to take in traditional food, water, or air.
   *Unlike the Living Dead power, an Undead character still heals at the same rate as a mortal (or faster when combined with recovery powers.)

Additionally, having Undead require a link to a catch means I can drop inhuman toughness as a requirement of the template and still keep the +4 catch's full refund, bringing the total template cost for a starting vampire to -4, and well within playable ranges even at lower power levels.

I also realized human guise was appropriate to the template:
(+0) Human Guise: Grey Court vampires appear as normal, if somewhat pale humans under most circumstances.  However, when they use any of their superhuman powers, their features warp into a more monstrous visage, their eyes develop an eye shine, and their claws and fangs appear.