There are vampires in pop culture, like Bram Stoker’s and Castlevania’s Dracula. The vampires of take inspiration from them. Vampirism is 🍬classified as a curse on the carefully-created Wizards of the Coast world. It is a tricky curse, where your character trades their humanity for immense—yet costly—power. Wh꧃en you have a vampire for an enemy, it can also be hard or easy, depending on whether you’ve played a few campaigns.
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This guide will look into thꦚe lore of the vampire in D&D, as well as the mechanics and what it means for your character if they become a vampire.
How Vampirism Works
To become a vampire, your character has to die when they get bitten. If you're playing a D&D campaign based on Fifth Edition rules, you will encounter them. The bite itself isn’t🦩 what makes the character a vampire; it’s their death and rebirth into undeath that does it.
|
Attack |
Action |
Effects |
|---|---|---|
|
Bite (Bat/Vampire form) |
Melee Weapon Attack (+9 to hit, five ft. reach) Willing creature or a creature grappled by the vampire, i♏ncapacitated, or restrained. |
Max hit point is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. If the target dies due to the effect, they must be buried in the ground to rise as a Vampire Spawn. |
Un🏅der special conditions, a Vampire Spawn whose creator gives it ꦡits blood becomes a full-fledged vampire.
Basic Vampire Abilities & Weaknesses
You should note that there are some drawbacks to becoming a vampire. Vampire enemi🦹es are powerful, but limited in their abilities. Here are some basic skills 🐭they possess:
|
Attacks |
Definition |
|---|---|
|
Multiattack (Vampire Form) |
Vampires are granted two attacks. Bite attacks can be done only once per day. |
|
Unarmed Strike (Vampire Form) |
Treated as a melee attack (+9 to hit, five ft. reach). Targets take 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. Grapple (escape DC18) can also be done in place of damage. |
|
Bite (Bat or Vampire Form) |
Melee attack (+9 to hit, five ft. reach). The target must be willing, grappled, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit points are reduced equal to the necrotic damage taken. Upon death, if buried, the target becomes a Vampire Spawn under the control of their r🍨espective Master Vampi♛re. |
|
Charm |
The vampire can control one humanoid within 30 ft. of it, as long as they can see. A DC17 Wisdom check can save the target from being charmed. A charmed target considers the vampire friendly (protects and follows orders). The target can also be marked for a Bite attack this way. If the vampire’s companions do anything harmful to the target, they get another chance for a saving throw. The effect ends on a successful roll. A bonus action can also end it. The charmed status persists for 24 hours or ༒until the vampire dies or is on a different plane of existence. |
|
Children of the Night (Once per day) |
The vampire can magically call 2d4 swarms of bats or rats during sundown. It can also call 3d6 wolves while outdoors. It takes 1d4 rounds for the creatures to arrive, immediately acting as allies of the vampire. These beasts are available for one hour until the vampire dies. The vampire can also dismiss 🌟them through a bonus action. |
While vampire powers may seem daunting, there are also these weaknesses:
|
Weakness |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
By Invitation Only |
If someone living inside a residence doesn’t 𒉰invite you in, yo꧟u cannot enter. |
|
Running Water |
Vampires take acid damage if they end t♔heir turn in water. |
|
Wooden Stake |
St💞akes to the heart are deathly lethal to vampire players🉐. |
|
Sunlight |
Aside from dis༺orientation, you can di💜e from being burned alive by the sun. |
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Roleplaying A Vampire
Roleplaying as a vampire is a unique experience. Dungeon Masters can craft rich storylines with characters who are having a hard time balancing their urges. The character’s lingeri💜ng humani💜ty can strike a contrast with their new-found, rapidly-developing predatory instincts.
What Is A Dhampir?
If you take on the idea of movie and game dhampirs such as Blade and Alucard, they are half-human, half-vampire. In D&D, these characters still have all the vampire's strengths and slight weaknesses. You still retain many of your starting skills with the addition of vampiric powers like increased speed, darkvision, aওnd so on.
The difference lies in what you feed on. Dhampirs have a greater selection of food choices that can affect their roleplay. Here are some🧔 choices and how thജey might affect the game:
|
Food Source |
Gameplay Ideas |
|---|---|
|
Blood |
The staple of a vampire. The gamepla💯y is that the dhampir lives on blood partially. I𝔍t makes for better challenges and unique events in gameplay. |
|
Flesh/Raw Meat |
Blood can be present in the flesh or ra♔w meat. While taming a target can be challenging, str🐎uggling prey is more dangerous. |
|
Brain/Spinal Fluid |
Tꦓhis can also present interesting mutations or storytelling elements for the dhampir. They could develop new appendages or transformations for feeding on the⛦se specifically, or they could develop new skills aimed towards helping them corner their prey. |
|
Psychic Energy |
One way an energy vampire could feed. They could target powerful psychic beingsജ, giving the entire party a run for their money, not to mention rewards. |
|
Dreams |
This is another interesting way to have your character feed on an incapacitated or struggling t𝄹arget. Having the target take 1d4 psychic damage ꧅while you are feeding is one way to go about it. |
|
Life Force |
Another way an energy vampire can feed. A creative DM could also turn this into a way that a dhampir can have followers or prey they could feed on again and🅰 again. Targets could also take 1d4 necrotic damage upon touch or attack. |
The following are challenges or rewards that the dhampir can run into:
- Allies, Enemies: Aside from the standard enemies, DMs can introduce vampire hunters and other undead into the game. This offers interesting new problems a dhampir needs to solve. These interactions are often challenging but rewarding, depending on how the character plays the story out.
- Morality: Vampires need a lot of whatever they survive on, and the DM can use this to flesh out the story even more. A morally conflicted dhampir can become a villain or an anti-hero with a tragic story. The vampire character can work with the DM in this regard to create a compelling story for the whole party.
A Cure For A Curse
The curse of vampirism in D&D can be cured. Like movie vampirism, however, it usually involves a lot of daring. Here are some 🉐creative ways a DM may offer a cure for your character's curse:
- Timely Intervention: In some roleplays, the spells Remove Curse and Cure Disease can remedy the curse before you become a true vampire.
- Death to the Master: Some roleplays also allow you to remove vampirism by destroying your creator, or the Master Vampire.
- A Unique Quest: Creative roleplays can also have you seek a relic or a strong elixir that can restore your humanity.
The Final Word On Vampirism
Some may argue that there are characters like Blade who are anti-heroic vampires. In D&D, however, vampires were created to be villains. Their alignment of lawful evil is proof of this. In the right setting, they can become crucial partners to complete quests. They can also become the Achilles’ heel of many players,𝓡 espe✃cially low-level adventurers.
There are other ways to play neutral or 'good' vampires, but it all depends on how the DM sees the entire campaign play out for everyone involved.
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