True, they had to keep him in line with his fellow victims of the nerf bat - the ex-Chosen of Mystra, the not-so-legendary monster hunter, etc. - but in the process they've almost turned being a vampire into something cosmetic, which is... odd. If we do get a chance to make our PCs vampires eventually, will it be mostly a roleplay thing? If Astarion gets upgraded to "true vampire," will he just get another [tag] added to his list and nothing else?