Vampire Race (Updated: Vampire, Half-Vampire and Feats)

[Pour]

Thanks for everyone's help. The final version:

Othyrian Vampire

Average Height: 5'5 - 6'2
Average Weight: 140 - 220lb.

Ability Adjustment: +2 Dex, +2 Cha

Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Darkvision

Languages: Common, Infernal

Skill Modifiers: +2 Intimidate, +2 Stealth

Bloodhunt: You gain a +1 bonus to attacks against bloodied creatures.

Graveborn: You have resist Necrotic 5 + 1/2 your level, and vulnerability 5 Radiant.

Shadowy Origin: Your ancestors came from the shadow plane of Cadavera, thus you are considered a shadow creature for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin.

Child of Night: Once per encounter, you can use either blood drain or overwhelming gaze:

Blood Drain (Vampire Racial Power)
Encounter
Standard Action
Target: One Living Natural, Fey or Immortal Creature
Requirement: Target must be immobile
Attack: Str, Dex or Con +2 vs. Reflex
Hit: You heal 1d6+Con and inflict that much damage on the target.
Increase the bonus to +4 and the damage to 2d6 at 11th level, and +6 and 3d6 at 21st.
Special: When you create your character, choose Strength, Dexterity or Constitution as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. This choice remains throughout your character's life.

or

Overwhelming Gaze (Vampire Racial Power)
Encounter (Gaze): Charm, Psychic, Fear
Standard Action
Range 5
Target: One Creature
Attack: Int, Wis or Cha +2 vs. Will
Hit: Target is dazed (save ends)
Sustain Minor: You sustain the power's effect.
Increase the bonus to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st.
Special: When you create your character, choose Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. This choice remains throughout your character's life.


Now if I could just ask your help with the dunpiel (half-vampire) I would be most appreciative. Here's what I was thinking of...

Dunpiel

Average Height: 5'5 - 6'2
Average Weight: 140 - 220lb.

Ability Adjustment: +2 Con and +2 Cha

Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Infernal

Skill Adjustments: +2 Endurance, +2 Stealth

Dual Heritage: You can take feats that have either vampire or human as a prerequisite (or dunpiel-specific feats), granted you meet any other requirements.

Gravekin: Your vampiric ancestry affords you a +1 bonus to Fortitude defense and +2 bonus to savings throws against necrotic effects.

Child of Twilight: You may choose either blood drain or overwhelming gaze as a racial encounter power. The choice remains throughout your character's life.

Blood Drain (Vampire Racial Power)
Encounter
Standard Action
Target: One Living Natural, Fey or Immortal Creature
Requirement: Target must be immobile
Attack: Str, Dex or Con +2 vs. Reflex
Hit: You heal 1d6+Con and inflict that much damage on the target.
Increase the bonus to +4 and the damage to 2d6 at 11th level, and +6 and 3d6 at 21st.
Special: When you create your character, choose Strength, Dexterity or Constitution as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. This choice remains throughout your character's life.

or

Overwhelming Gaze (Vampire Racial Power)
Encounter (Gaze): Charm, Psychic, Fear
Standard Action
Range 5
Target: One Creature
Attack: Int, Wis or Cha +2 vs. Will
Hit: Target is dazed (save ends)
Sustain Minor: You sustain the power's effect.
Increase the bonus to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st.
Special: When you create your character, choose Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. This choice remains throughout your character's life.

 

[Pour]

Updated the Vampire and Dunpiel in the first post, also included a bunch of related feats, if anyone minds checking issues with them. Thanks.

 

[Synge]

Wow, I like this a lot. Great work!

Suggestions:

1. On Overwhelming Gaze, I would add "Sustain Minor" but I think the general Sustain rules already include stuff about range and line of effect, so I would not put any special rules for that.

2. I agree with limiting the Blood Drain to just those living creatures.

3. Vampires always have trouble with sunlight. I think it'd be fun to include this somehow. It would have to be something fairly harmless, otherwise it would disrupt the game and annoy the other players. For example:

Sunlight Allergy: You can't spend healing surges when you are in direct sunlight. Even moderate shade, such as from trees, overcast weather, or dark protective clothing, can negate this penalty.

(Thus, as long as the vampire wears a hoodie, he can travel overland with the rest of the party. But he'll probably avoid trips to the beach.)

-- 77IM

77IM is "dead" on! Sorry for the pun! I could not resist!

I really like this vampire race! I am getting ready to start my group off on Keep on the Shadowfell and think I might allow this as a race or NPC that is a prisoner of the goblins or the Priest of Orcus....might be cool

Please keep up the great work and if you have some kind of setting for this race of your own design please pm me with the info if you want a second set of eyes on it.

Synge

 

[Kunimatyu]

You should change the half-vampire race name to "Dhampir". Your name appears to be from the Vampire Hunter D series, which is fine, but that name was a mistranslated form of "Dhampir" itself. (source)

Just a suggestion - it seems like you've got a decent setup here.

 

[77IM]

First a comment. All of the "Immortal/Elemental/Shadow" drain feats seem underpowered. They will only be useful when facing that sort of creature, which is only a fraction of the time. I'd combine these into one feat ("Exotic Taste in Blood") or maybe two feats ("Quintessence Drain" for Immortal/Elemental/Shadow and "Ichor Drain" for Aberrant/Undead, or something like that).

Also, Jack of All Trades is already the name of a feat so I think calling a new feat Jack-of-All-Trades will probably just confuse people.


As an alternative to racial traits, I decided to describe vampirism as a feat. Check it out. It's a bit different than the race described above. I imagine a tree of feats to add the more powerful traits, like dominating gaze and spider climb, or possibly a paragon path. It might be useful for a character who starts as some other race and later becomes a vampire through role-playing.


VAMPIRE

Prerequisites: You must have had the Dark Gift of the Undying ritual performed upon you, or been killed by the blood drain power of a vampire lord who is now destroyed.

Benefit: You gain the undead type for effects relating to type. You have resist necrotic 5 + 1/2 your level, and vulnerability radiant 5. As a minor action, you may drain the blood of a living creature that you have grabbed, inflicting ongoing 5 damage (until escape).

You still breathe and sleep normally. You no longer need to eat or drink, but must drain blood or face the consequences of starvation. When you are exposed to direct sunlight, you can't spend healing surges (as if you were all out of healing surges), although other forms of healing work on you normally. You can use healing surges normally when in darkness, artificial light, or moderate shade, such as from a tree, overcast weather, or dark concealing clothing.

Special: Selecting this feat requires the DM's permission. Retraining the feat also requires the DM's permission, and may be accompanied by a special quest.

 

[Pour]

Thanks for the input everyone. Synge: Cool, glad someone might actually use my creation outside of me. I do like the sunlight allergy, though I opted to just add a few racial stipulations beneath the block, sort of additional rules I didn't want to crowd the stat block with, especially since these are just my preferences as a DM: 1. Vampires still require blood to live as normal races require food and water. 2. Vampires need sleep, what they call torpor, of the amount normal races require for rests. This must be done out of direct sunlight or they receive no benefits. Most rest during the day due to their shadowy nature and nocturnal society, but this is not required. 3. Classic vampire weaknesses do not work on Othyrian vampires after the Change, nor does anything that effects undead. They are a mortal race with an age akin to elves, capable of living for thousands of years. Kunimatyu: Thanks for the heads up on the dunpiel thing. An interesting loss in translation. I think I'll take your suggestion and switch to Dhampir, especially since it actually has some roots in Balkan myth. 77IM: Thanks for the encouragement along the way for this race. In regards to the 5 underpowered feats, while very situational, I still think they serve a purpose. Considering the small number of types as it is, adding elemental or shadow singularly could really improve a vampire's performance at some points during the campaign. Including three types per feat feels like its allows for an almost effortless change in the logical makeup of the blood drain ability as laid down, which comes included with the feasible choices for drainage. I really like the name Ichor Drain, though hehe. I'll need to make more inspiring names for the feats at least. And thanks for the heads up on the Jack-of-All-Trades name conflict. Thinking now, it doesn't feel very much like it fits the name, maybe more like a Quick Learner, Photographic Memory or Apt Pupil or something.