Out of the blue, my friend and I were talking tonight about somehow that if being killed by bite gave Dracula the choice of turning the Hunter into a vampire like him, so I thought this would be a cool post that people may comment on or use at their own discretion:

Turned Hunter:

When a Hunter would receive their last bite that would kill the character, the Dracula player may choose either to receive 2 Vampires for his vampire track or only 1 Vampire instead. If he chooses only 1, the Hunter becomes turned, ends his or her turn, loses all Event and Item cards, and refills their health to max if needs be. The Turned Hunter is an official vampire for all combat and other purposes, but is not Dracula himself, except in the case of Consecrated Ground and Holy Hosts, which do adversely affect movement as if he or she were Dracula. He or she receives Dracula combat cards when he or she enters combat with another Hunter, and also follows the same Day restrictions as Dracula for card selection (ex. Claws, Dodge, Escape (Man)).

Turned Hunters may not use any Event or Item cards. Turned Hunters may not use Resolve abilities. Turned Hunters lose their Hunter abilities. Turned Hunters do not after landing in a city choose to Resupply, Rest, or Trade.

Turned Hunters activate after Dracula moves but before the other Hunters activate. The Turned Hunters activate in their initiative order if there is more than one Turned Hunter, but this step is separate from the actual Hunter initiative. During a Turned Hunter's movement step, he or she may move 1 space. The Hunter does not use the train tracks. If he or she encounters Dracula's trail, he or she may ignore Encounters revealed by Dracula. He or she may not go into combat with Dracula. Dracula does not have to reveal his location to a Turned Hunter when he or she crosses his trail. If a Turned Hunter enters a Hunter's space, they must fight, and vice-versa. The Turned Hunter is treated very similar to how the Hunter Event card Vampire Lair works, in that the Turned Hunter is not Dracula (i.e. Sister Agatha does not affect adversely the Turned Hunter); the key difference is unlike Vampire Lair which requires one health or more, or a kill, to end combat, Turned Hunters use their Hunter hp track as usual, except kills take them one tier down. All Hunters have two tiers; however, Godalming and Seward both have an even distribution of health between tiers, while Helsing and Mina do not. Helsing and Mina, when killed from full health, bump down to their 6 hp mark on their track, officially making a kill from full health only 2 damage. Once a Turned Hunter is killed, they are permanently removed from the game and Dracula loses 1 Vampire from his vampire track.

If Dracula wins, the Turned Hunter(s) also wins. If Dracula loses, so does immediately the Turned Hunter(s).

I have not used this variant yet, but am looking forward to doing so. I assume it will make Dracula overpowered, but I can also see where it can underpower him. Sure, you are permanently ridding a Hunter from the meddlesome group and he or she may even be on your side for a while, but you are losing a Vampire on your track, the very thing that lets you win as Dracula. Also, if he or she dies, you lose the other Vampire point you invested in. Sense of Emergency could also quickly end Dracula's new recruit. Not to mention, Dracula racing towards Hunters at the stroke of midnight could end very badly and very quickly for him if he rolls bad or the Hunter is prepared for his night visit (or as we like to call it, the Hunter specializes in "Stake-Fu").

However, a missing figurine for the Hunters is a significant blow too, not to mention the power of another "Dracula" stalking the board and ridding maybe another Hunter and bringing them to your side (yes, Fangs and Mesmerize still work too for these Turned Hunters at night; so does Seduction in receiving Turned Hunters).

For hardcore play, you could also variant when a Hunter is killed, he or she is eliminated. Play any of this at your own discretion.

To maybe balance things out if this feels to one-sided for Dracula, each eliminated Hunter (Turned are not eliminated until they are killed, killed) gains the Hunter party an immediate Resolve point.

Some observations on your idea... generally speaking, it's cool. But I think unbalances greatly the game. The main point is Mina.

Mina is a very week character, only one bite and she's lost forever. Removing Mina from the party, will alter deeply some strategies: she's the only Hunter normally able to receive a Hypnosys card. Plus, she's a very helpful character to farm Objects and Events, searching for good cards.

And she's very vulnerable: should Dracula use wisely his Seduction card, she's lost forever. Maybe you could consider a chance for a Turned investigator to "return" normal: by using Holy Water, for example, or Great Strength, after an investigator wins a combat against him / her.

There is also a 6-player version of FoD with Dracula having an "assistant" which was posted on BGG some time ago. Maybe it could be of your interest. If you want to read it without searching the BGG, just drop me your e-mail address via PM, and I'll send you over the pdf

Julia said:

Yeah, I read the Dracula's servant variant and it seems it would lengthen the game. Turned Hunters would instead lower playing time. I personally also didn't like how you are using a pawn piece or some other token that represents the servant and also a piece of scratch-paper character sheet. It seems all very unofficial and detracts from the actual pieces and cards that come with the game, so I can be particular like that (which some find silly, but that's okay).

However, if you just had the Assassin token wandering around the board knowingly with all his normal combat rules and he could move like a Hunter (train die included), that would be pretty cool. Then if he dies, he resurrects and ends his turn in any city (excluding St. Joseph and St. Mary) not occupied by a Hunter already. It's an idea. Makes sense thematically too seeing as Dracula has tons of gold, so a new contract is established when the previous Assassin is killed. Wonder how overpowered the resurrect in any other city is though, and whether the Assassin should go before or after Hunter turns...

And again, yes, I do assume the Turned Hunter will greatly unbalance the game, especially in Mina's case. My friend and I were discussing it previously and he thought it would turn out alright but I am still skeptical. I believe the loss of Vampire points and Resolve gain for Hunter's sake will make them resolute enough if they can find Dracula again. If they weren't gaining extra resolve and Dracula was losing points, I wouldn't have even posted the variant.

And yet also, if Mina or any other Hunter is attacked by an aggressive Dracula wishing to turn a Hunter, his success or failure still reveals his location, and a revealed Dracula is always bad for him.

Also may have forgot to mention in variant rules that if Dracula and a Turned Hunter share the same location and combat is to ensue, encounters first, Turned Hunter second, and Dracula third. Dracula's location is revealed to the entering Hunter no matter what. There can also be communication between Dracula and a Turned Hunter but it is done aloud and the Turned Hunter(s) may not see Dracula's trail cards. Revealed Hunter cards for Dracula may also be revealed to Turned Hunters.