Dracula Book Questions

[Jasmine Lemaitre]

Lastyear I lead a local book group through reading Dracula by Bram Stoker and had a blast! I thought that this year I would share some of the questions I used to prompt discussion among group members! I hope you enjoy the questions and that they make you want to revisit the book! I would welcome any discussion that they inspire!

"Must you go? Oh! young Herr, must you go?" She was in such an excited state that she seemed to have lost her grip of what German she knew, and mixed it all up with some other language which I did not know at all. I was just able to follow her by asking many questions. When I told her that I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business, she asked again:

"It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?" She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but without effect. Finally she went down on her knees and implored me not to go; at least to wait a day or two before starting. It was all very ridiculous but I did not feel comfortable. However, there was business to be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it. I therefore tried to raise her up, and said, as gravely as I could, that I thanked her, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go. She then rose and dried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me. I did not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind. She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the rosary round my neck, and said, "For your mother's sake," and went out of the room. I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting for the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still round my neck. Whether it is the old lady's fear, or the many ghostly traditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual. If this book should ever reach Mina before I do, let it bring my good-bye. Here comes the coach!

4 May.\u2014I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count, directing him to secure the best place on the coach for me; but on making inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and pretended that he could not understand my German. This could not be true, because up to then he had understood it perfectly; at least, he answered my questions exactly as if he did. He and his wife, the old lady who had received me, looked at each other in a frightened sort of way. He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that was all he knew. When I asked him if he knew Count Dracula, and could tell me anything of his castle, both he and his wife crossed themselves, and, saying that they knew nothing at all, simply refused to speak further. It was so near the time of starting that I had no time to ask any one else, for it was all very mysterious and not by any means comforting.

\\\"Must you go? Oh! young Herr, must you go?\\\" She was in such an excited state that she seemed to have lost her grip of what German she knew, and mixed it all up with some other language which I did not know at all. I was just able to follow her by asking many questions. When I told her that I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business, she asked again:

\\\"It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?\\\" She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but without effect. Finally she went down on her knees and implored me not to go; at least to wait a day or two before starting. It was all very ridiculous but I did not feel comfortable. However, there was business to be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it. I therefore tried to raise her up, and said, as gravely as I could, that I thanked her, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go. She then rose and dried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me. I did not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind. She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the rosary round my neck, and said, \\\"For your mother's sake,\\\" and went out of the room. I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting for the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still round my neck. Whether it is the old lady's fear, or the many ghostly traditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual. If this book should ever reach Mina before I do, let it bring my good-bye. Here comes the coach!

Johan: There are both harmless villagers and various hostile human soldiers. You will need to weaken a human in combat to drink their blood, or you can choose to finish them with a bite. The current design goal is to let players immerse themselves as vampires. Humans will most likely stay NPCs.

Johan: I think connecting castle building with rising in power as a vampire fits the theme surprisingly well. Throwing up walls using your dark powers almost makes more sense compared to in other survival games, throwing up walls in a millisecond while chopping wood with a scythe, haha. Strolling around in your newly built gothic castle as a vampire and sleeping in a coffin adds a lot to the experience.

Johan: The PvP combat will be fast-paced, and fans of our previous titles will feel at home, even though the gameplay feel does differ a bit from each game we develop. Without promising too much, we will most likely have everything you ask for, Tevoss!

Johan: Good questions! Players will unlock new technology and gear in their castle. Expanding the castle and upgrading its rooms will allow players to access a wider variety of equipment. The more the castle grows, the more there will be to discover. You will craft weapons and combine them with powerful spell kits that both work similar to Battlerite champion abilities. There will also be different tiers of spell kits to learn, upgraded versions of the same skills. Many of these abilities are inspired by the ones you find in Battlerite.

Johan: Without being too specific: Action Survival gamers and players into sandbox open-worlds with crafting and building elements. But also players into Action RPGs, MMO RPGs, Diablo-esque games, and anyone who played our games in the past. V Rising is like our previous games, its own thing, and a multiplayer action game first.

Johan: I would love to see players roleplaying in V Rising, and I believe there will be a lot of vampire politics in this game. It is, however, hard to tell how much freedom is enough for players to feel like a real vampire. We will use the beta period wisely to collect player feedback and improve on what players want more or less of.

Johan: You heard a sneak peek of the music in our teaser trailer. The soundtrack is composed by Aleksandria Migova, who made both in-game tracks and all the trailer music for Battlerite. We will set up an interview with Aleksandria and have a dev update dedicated to the music later this year.

Johan: We will update the world of V Rising and keep adding content after the release. How we scale the game is always dependent on how many players we have. I believe the updates will come less frequently but will add more meat to them when they are released.

Johan: Thank you for wanting to be part of the development of V Rising! Your questions have been an excellent way to understand what you want to see in the game and what you consider important. Keep em coming! Player feedback will be crucial during both closed beta and early access so we together can create a kick-ass vampire game. We also highly appreciate all content and youtube videos made by you guys, any help with spreading the word about the game means a lot to us.

Johan: Thank you all for your support! There will be more reveals coming even though it will be some time before we can go into the details of game design. Bear with us as we keep building the world of V Rising.

If a player were to force a vampire into a residence purposefully (ie grapple and drag in), would this be an invitation? Would it also matter if the player was not an occupant previously and forced him in? Also, if it was accidental (ie they fell from a rooftop through a skylight while grappled), how would that count?

Vampires are not barred from entering non-residences like shops, warehouses, taverns and inns (but private rooms in an inn may be a residence). Given that the occupant described is specifically the occupant of a residence it seems reasonable to restrict the definition to those people who are (or are legitimately acting on behalf of) a resident of the particular residence concerned.

If the character owns or leases the house then they can issue the invitation. Similarly, if they are a guest of the resident they should be able to issue the invitation. However, if they themselves are breaking and entering then they cannot issue the invitation.

However, being forced to act against their nature might cause the vampire some distress, maybe even a strong urge to leave because they feel they don't belong. But there is no game-mechanical effect which represents this, nor is the DM required to handle it that way.

But in either case: When the character who causes the involuntary movement is a legitimate occupant of the residence, then forcing the vampire to enter might be considered a form of invitation. A very rude one, but an invitation nevertheless.

3a8082e126