Vampire

Vampire
Depiction of a vampire from D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide, page 76.
Biological Information
Type	Undead
Subtype	Shapechanger
Alignment	Evil Lawful evil (true vampire) Neutral evil (vampire spawn)
Vision	Darkvision 120 ft. (true vampire) 60 ft. (vampire spawn)
Movement	30 ft. Bat form: 5 ft., fly 30 ft. Mist form: fly 20 ft. (hover)
Abilities	Shapechanger Misty Escape Regeneration Spider Climb Charm Children of the Night
Diet	Blood of the living
Physical Characteristics
Size	Medium
Sociocultural Information
Planes	Material Plane (Exandria)
Locations	Whitestone (previously)
Environment	Urban
Language	Any languages it knew in life
Notable members	Sylas Briarwood Count Tylieri Ixrattu Khar

Vampires are undead shapechangers who hunger for blood.

Appearance and personalities

Vampires appear in undeath much as they did in life, but have sharp fangs, paler skin, red eyes, and clawed hands. They do not cast shadows or reflections, and they avoid the sunlight which burns them.

Vampires typically retain the memories and even the personalities of their former, mortal lives. However, any benevolent characteristics they once possessed become twisted and corrupted. Vampires hunger for the life they've lost and sate this hunger by drinking the blood of the living. No longer capable of forming true emotional bonds, vampires instead surround themselves with physical symbols of wealth, power, youth, or whatever it was they desired in life.

Background

Vampires are extremely rare in Exandria and were thought largely abolished close to 200 years before 810 PD. In few cases, there were murmurs about them. However, as soon as the rumors spread, large mobs gathered, and those allegedly afflicted with vampirism were hunted down and killed.

Characteristics

Depiction of a true vampire from D&D: Monster Manual, page 295.

The following is drawn from the 2014 Monster Manual:

• Resistant to necrotic damage and physical damage from non-magical attacks.
• Due to their undead nature, neither vampires nor their spawn require air to survive.
• Bite attacks deal both piercing and necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the vampire regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A vampire can only use its bite attack against a willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by the vampire, incapacitated, or restrained.
  • If a humanoid dies as a result of its max hp being reduced to 0, and that creature is then buried in the ground, the creature will rise from its grave the following night as a vampire spawn, controlled by the vampire that delivered the fatal bite. Vampire spawn are similar to true vampires, but lack the Shapechanger, Charm, and Children of the Night abilities. The bite of a spawn does not carry the curse of vampirism, though the target will still die if its hp maximum drops to 0.
• Vulnerable to running water and sunlight. They also cannot willingly enter a residence unless invited in by an occupant, and if staked through the heart with a wooden piercing weapon while in their resting place, they become paralyzed until the stake is removed.
  • Vampires and spawn take 20 radiant damage if they start their turn in direct sunlight. If they end their turn in running water, they take 20 acid damage.
  • Vampires and spawn have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks while in sunlight.
  • A vampire that is reduced to 0 hp while in direct sunlight or running water is automatically destroyed.
  • A spawn that is staked through the heart while in its resting place is instantly destroyed.
• During the day, a vampire sleeps in its coffin, crypt, grave site, or beneath one foot of earth at the site of its transition to undeath. A vampire will often hide its resting site in a castle, manor, abbey, or some other type of grand, yet fortified lair. A vampire can create multiple resting sites by harvesting and moving sufficient quantities of grave soil from the original site.
• A vampire spawn becomes free-willed if its creator is destroyed, but can only become a true vampire if it is permitted to drink its creator's own blood. Vampires rarely allow their spawn to become true vampires, as doing so means relinquishing control over their minions.
• Only extremely powerful magic, such as True Resurrection or Wish, can cure vampirism.

Abilities

• Shapechanger: A vampire can use its action to polymorph into the form of a Tiny bat, a Medium cloud of mist, or back into its true form. Anything a vampire is wearing transforms along with it, but nothing it is carrying does. Vampires cannot shapeshift while in direct sunlight or running water. A vampire reverts to its true form if it dies.
  • Bat Form: While in bat form, a vampire cannot speak or make unarmed strikes. It has a 5 foot walking speed and a 30 foot flying speed. Its statistics are otherwise unchanged.
  • Mist Form: While in mist form, a vampire is weightless, has a 20 foot flying speed, can hover, can pass through any space that air can pass through, and can occupy another creature's space. It has advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and is immune to all non-magical damage, except the damage it takes from sunlight. While in mist form, it cannot take actions (other than transforming into another form), speak, manipulate objects, or pass through water.
  • Misty Escape: When a vampire drops to 0 hp outside its resting place, it automatically shapeshifts into a mist (unless it is in direct sunlight or running water), at which point it must return to its resting place within 2 hours or be destroyed. While at 0 hp in mist form, the vampire cannot transform back into a corporeal form until it reaches its resting place. Upon returning to its resting place, the vampire reverts to its true form and becomes paralyzed until it regenerates at least 1 hp. After spending 1 hour in its resting place at 0 hp, the vampire regains 1 hp. A vampire reduced to 0 hp is instantly destroyed if it cannot transform via Misty Escape.
• Spider Climb: In any corporeal form, vampires and vampire spawn can climb vertical and upside-down surfaces without difficulty.
• Regeneration: So long as they have at least 1 hp, vampires and vampire spawn automatically regain some health on their turn if they are not in sunlight or running water, and if they did not take radiant damage nor damage from holy water on their previous turn.
• Charm: A vampire can use its action to target a humanoid it sees within 30 feet of itself. If the target can also see the vampire, the humanoid must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become Charmed by the vampire. Although not under the vampire's direct control, the Charmed humanoid regards the vampire as a trusted friend to be obeyed and protected, and becomes a willing target for the vampire's bite attacks. Whenever the vampire or its allies do anything harmful to the Charmed target, the target can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts for 24 hours, or until the Charmed condition is removed (via Greater Restoration, Dispel Evil and Good, or similar magic), or until the vampire is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence, or uses a bonus action to end the effect early.
• Children of the Night (1/Day): The vampire can magically summon 2d4 swarms of bats or rats, provided that the sun isn't up. While outdoors, the vampire can summon 3d6 wolves instead. The summoned creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds, acting as allies of the vampire and obeying its spoken commands. The beasts remain for 1 hour, until the vampire dies, or until the vampire dismisses them as a bonus action.
• Legendary Actions (3/Round): At the end of another creature's turn, a vampire can take a single legendary action: 1) Move up to its speed without triggering opportunity attacks. 2) Make an unarmed strike. 3) Make a bite attack. A bite attack costs the equivalent of 2 legendary actions. The vampire regains all of its spent legendary actions at the start of its next turn.
• Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If the vampire fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Spellcasting: Some vampires (typically those who were already spellcasters before becoming vampires) are capable of casting spells.

In other games (e.g., Vampire: The Masquerade), vampires have different abilities, although they typically share the thirst for blood.

Known vampires

Azmog was a vampiric hobgoblin who served the Strife Emperor until slain by the Dawnfather near the end of the Calamity.

Fan art of Sylas Briarwood turning as he hears Percy scream his name, by Jessica Huegel (@Cryptobaffling).

Sylas Briarwood and Count Tylieri were both vampires that Vox Machina encountered and fought in Whitestone, along with many vampire spawn.

Ixrattu Khar has claimed and consumed hundreds of innocents during her killing spree that spanned from Kymal to Emon, making her "Tal'Dorei's foulest mass murderer". At some point, she was convicted and sent to the Black Bastille prison in Emon but managed to escape during the Chroma Conclave's attack. As of 836 PD, she possesses the Vestige of Divergence known as Condemner.

From adventure hooks

The following vampires are all featured in adventure hooks in the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, set in 836 PD.

• Pillia Ravenosa, a vampire from the Othemoor, used diamonds to lure greedy people to the region in order to feed her vampire spawn.
• Outside Yrrosa lives the vampire Velima Shanglian. She has a deal with the local agents of the Myriad, that, in exchange for the vampire's help, is sending her victims to her hidden lair, some of whom end up turned into vampire spawn.
• Korberta Horswell, a mage of the Cerberus Assembly, has been conducting a series of experiments at Balenpost with the permission of the local leader, Wardlow Akron. The experiments, which aim to replicate magical items from Aeor, have caused side effects, and the human Mera Vacross has ended up transformed into a vampire, fleeing the settlement and settling in a nearby cave, attacking explorers as they approach her lair. Akron tries to keep the vampire's unusual origins a secret.
• A pair of vampires lead a cult in New Haxon. They are established in the ruins of Old Haxon, and their objective is to summon Shothotugg, the Eater of Worlds. Most of the members of the cult are nihilistic humanoids and vampire spawn, but the undead leaders also have the assistance of a small conclave of cloakers.

From one-shots

In the Thursday By Night One-shots, the Critical Role cast (other than Taliesin, who is the GM) play themselves as vampires using a modified version of the Vampire: The Masquerade TTRPG.

References

Art: