D&D 5E Can Moonbeam out-right destroy a vampire?

[Charles Rampant]

Remember also that a party that really wants to will try to use a spell or ability that creates Sunlight, which also instantly destroys a Vampire at 0 HP, no mist-form allowed. It might be simpler to assume that the 0 HP - turn to mist - flee thing is actually unlikely, and instead would be a 'failure state' of sorts for the party. (Just like, uhm, you wouldn't assume that a Bad Knight would automatically be able to flee the party, but him fleeing might well be something that happens if the party does bad enough in the combat to not kill him outright or prevent his flight.)

If the plot really requires that the Vampire turn to mist and escape, I suggest you instead have the Vampire do something like Simulacrum, where it isn't really him/her that the party are fighting, but only a mirage or puppet. That way you get your boss fight, the party can win it fair and square, and you still get to keep your boss monster for another part of the storyline.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Well... you can also pull it off with the rather mundane effects of a sunny day or a river.

Both of which are pretty much at the DM's whim OR require serious planning to bring into effect. You can bet that vampires don't spend their days fishing by the side of the river in the cooling shade of a tree unless they have a deathwish.

My own feeling is that vampires are not supposed to be impossible to kill, just that it should require care and planning. As has been noted, getting a vampire down to 0 hp (and not letting it escape before that) should already be a significant challenge.

"I cast my most effective damage spell because it also does extra stuff to shapeshifters" doesn't really count as planning to me. Finding all the vampire's coffins, isolating him in a tower surrounded by open fields and somehow delaying until dawn counts as planning.

The same creature can be slaughtered by a wooden stick.

No, he can be paralyzed indefinitely by a wooden stick... when they are in their resting place. The classic vampire is something that you have to go hunt down to exterminate, not something permanently beaten when you first meet him because you have a druid's best damage spell readied.

I mean, if you're going to totally ignore the fact that you have to beat the vampire in combat first.

Well, the listed CR is 13, but raw stats put him around CR 7. He's a complete wimp if all he's going to do is fight you face to face.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Well, the listed CR is 13, but raw stats put him around CR 7. He's a complete wimp if all he's going to do is fight you face to face.

It's a bit of a tangent, but I recommend not doing this with Vampires. Just my two coppers.

 

[Chaosmancer]

This happened to me as a DM. Didn't know about Moonbeam back then (this was early 5e and I'm not that good at remembering the entire book) and the vampire was only a minion, but the players loved the fact that they just out right destroyed the thing before it could make it to the nearby vent and escape.

Seriously though, between Sunbeam and Moonbeam Druids are the ultimate vampire slayers.

Also, tangential rant, it is so incredibly stupid that the Daylight spell does not create actual sunlight and is simple a glorified light spell that can beat Darkness. That bit me hard in a game where I was the cleric because I prepared it specifically to deal with Vampires and Shadows and learned it was utterly useless.

 

[jaelis]

"I cast my most effective damage spell because it also does extra stuff to shapeshifters" doesn't really count as planning to me.

I would say it counts as planning to save the spell until the vamp drops to zero hp, so it doesn't immediately leave when it sees what you are doing.

Finding all the vampire's coffins, isolating him in a tower surrounded by open fields and somehow delaying until dawn counts as planning.

Fair enough, you like to make things tougher than I do. A simple fix then would be to say moonbeam doesn't work on a mist form vampire.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I would say it counts as planning to save the spell until the vamp drops to zero hp, so it doesn't immediately leave when it sees what you are doing.

Except you kind of don't need to. The only countermeasure he really has against it is charming you... and he should be charming you anyway.

Fair enough, you like to make things tougher than I do. A simple fix then would be to say moonbeam doesn't work on a mist form vampire.

Yup, by treating daylight and running water as an exclusive list of what can stop him shapechanging when he hits 0. I 'd be tempted to just change moonbeam and make it only work on lycanthropes... and to fix them in animal form. Right now the spell just doesn't make any thematic sense. Hah demon imp! My moonlight will make you not turn into a cat! Hah werewolf under the light of a full moon! My moonlight will make you turn into a person!

 

[TwoSix]

Yup, by treating daylight and running water as an exclusive list of what can stop him shapechanging when he hits 0. I 'd be tempted to just change moonbeam and make it only work on lycanthropes... and to fix them in animal form. Right now the spell just doesn't make any thematic sense. Hah demon imp! My moonlight will make you not turn into a cat! Hah werewolf under the light of a full moon! My moonlight will make you turn into a person!

I also normally can't fry commoners with moonlight like they're ants under a magnifying glass; in for a penny, in for a pound, you might say.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I also normally can't fry commoners with moonlight like they're ants under a magnifying glass; in for a penny, in for a pound, you might say.

See, to me if a spells' effect doesn't match its theme, that's a problem. Fireball makes a ball of fire. Conjure elemental summons an elemental. Charm person charms a person. Sunbeam creates a bright ray of light and counts as sunlight. Moonbeam... creates a beam of something that doesn't really have a thematic link to moonlight. It's like if I had a spell which said:

"A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you."

It's just weird.