Vampire Template
"Vampire" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). Vampires appear similar to how they did in life, although their features are often hardened and feral.
Stats
A vampire uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
- Hit Dice The vampire retains any hit dice it gained from class levels. Any non-class HD are converted to d8's.
- Creature Type The creature's type changes to undead.
- CR Original base creature's CR + 2
- Movement The creature maintains the same speed. If the base creature has a swim speed, the vampire retains the ability to swim and is not vulnerable to immersion in running water (see below).
- Abilities Increase from the base creature as follows Str +6, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4. As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score.
- Skills Vampires retain the same skills, but gain a +8 racial bonus to Deception, Stealth, Perception, Investigation, and Insight.
- Senses Vampires have darkvision 60.
- Alignment Always evil (any).
- Armor Class The base creature's natural armor bonus improves by +6.
Immunities, Vulnerabilities, and Resistances
A vampire gains the following
- Weapon Resistance 10/silver or good
- Fast Healing 5 as long as it has 1 hit point.
- Resistances Cold 10, Electricity 10
- Turn Resistance advantage on save to avoid being turned.
- Damage Immunities Necrotic, Psychic, Poison
- Effect Immunities Immunity to Con Save Effects, Death Effects, Disease, Fatigue, Life Drain, Mental Effects, Paralysis, Ability Damage, Sleep, Stunning, Suffocation, Starvation, Necromancy Effects
- Garlic Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it.
- Holy Symbols Similarly, they recoil from a mirror or a strongly presented holy symbol. These things don't harm the vampire--they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from a creature holding the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against the creature holding the item for the rest of the encounter. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action.
- Running Water Vampires are also unable to cross running water, although they can be carried over it while resting in their coffins or aboard a ship.
- Invitation They are utterly unable to enter a home or dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. They may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all.
Class Abilities
Clerics: A good cleric who becomes a vampire may lose it's spellcasting and domain abilities as its patron deity may no longer support it. However, the vampire many evil deities are more than welcome to accept new vampire clerics into their fold, which the character can do without loss of cleric levels.
Sorcerers and Wizards: Vampire sorcerers and wizards retain their class abilities, but if a character has a familiar other than a rat or bat, the link between them is broken, and the familiar shuns its former companion. The character can summon another familiar, but it must be a rat or bat.
Attacks
A vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature (including weapon proficiencies) and also gains a slam attack if it didn't already have one. A vampire's natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. On a full attack, it can strike with each of its limbs at its full attack bonus. Attacks deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage for small, medium, and large creatures. Smaller creatures deal 1d2 damage; larger creatures deal 2d6. However, if the base creature has a slam attack that is better, use that instead.
Life Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a vampire's slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two points of life drain. A vampire can use its energy drain ability once per round.
Actions
A vampire retains all the actions of the base creature and gains those described below.
Blood Drain (Ex): When a vampire holds a target in a dominant grapple, it can suck blood dealing 1d4 Con damage. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points.
Control Person (Sp): As a standard action, vampires can use a gaze attack to cast control person, as a spell-like ability.
Change Shape (Su): A vampire can assume the shape of a bat, dire bat, wolf, or dire wolf as a standard action. This ability is similar to a polymorph spell (level 4). While in its alternate form, the vampire loses its natural slam attack and dominate ability, but it gains the natural weapons and extraordinary special attacks of its new form. It can remain in that form until it assumes another or until the next sunrise.
Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, a vampire can assume gaseous form at will with a fly speed of 20.
Qualities
A vampire retains all the qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire's life drain rises as a vampire spawn 1d4 days after burial. If the vampire instead drains the victim's Constitution to 0 or lower, the victim returns as a spawn if it had 4 or less HD and as a vampire if it had 5 or more HD. In either case, the new vampire or spawn is under the command of the vampire that created it and remains enslaved until its master's destruction. At any given time, a vampire may have enslaved spawn totaling no more than twice its own hit dice; any spawn it creates that would exceed this limit are created as free-willed vampires or vampire spawn. A vampire that is enslaved may create and enslave spawn of its own, so a master vampire can control a number of lesser vampires in this fashion. A vampire may voluntarily free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or vampire spawn cannot be enslaved again.
Combat Reflexes (Ex): vampires have the combat reflexes common ability.
Mobility (Ex): vampires move quickly, and opponents take disadvantage on attacks of opportunity against them.
Killing a Vampire
Vampires cannot be killed easily. The following are a few ways to do so.
- HP Damage: If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, the vampire automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed (it can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes fast healing.
- Stakes: Driving a wooden stake through a vampire's heart instantly slays the monster. However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the body is destroyed. A popular tactic is to cut off the creature's head and fill its mouth with holy wafers (or their equivalent).
- Sunlight: Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it. It is staggered the first round and then utterly destroyed the next, if it cannot escape.
- Running Water: Immersing a vampire in running water robs it of one-third of its hit points each round until it is destroyed at the end of the third round of immersion.
