Alphaeus wrote:Honestly, I think you're just pointing out the larger issue that Vampires are really oddball and need to be reworked. Fun in many ways, but clunky in many others.
Funny, I'm pretty sure he is simply pointing out that vampires might as well get batform at XL1 as they get it anyhow on D:1 at XL3, and doesn't even broach the broader issues of vampire game design.
As far as other races...yeah some of them level up as they go (demonspawn, draconians fx) but others come pretty much as is concerning racial abilities at XL:1 (minotaurs, centaurs, trolls, ogres, octopodes, merfolk etc) so the argument can be made both ways. From a design perspective, is there an advantage to making them wait for batform? It's pretty much a get-out-of-jail-free card with the speed and stealth bonuses, so you can argue that letting them have it from the start removes a significant challenge to the early game, similar to how bookstarts have to wait to XL:3 before getting their first power boost (conjure flame on FE for example).