D&D 3E/3.5 Help me create a 3.5E LA+0 half-vampire race

[Erekose]

That doesn't mean its a good example. And if you look at just about any fantasy novel with dwarves in it, you're going to have a hard time imagining them as having a penalty to charisma.

Dwarves get a Cha penalty because they can't put the penalty anywhere else. Str? Nope, they're tough, thick and stocky. They can't be weak. Dex? Nope, dwarves have always had rogues or thieves. Int? No, only creatures with an Str bonus get an Int penalty. Wis? No because they make good clerics plus they have that legendary dwarven stubbornness which translates in game terms to a good Will. Only thing left is Cha. But how to explain it? Dour and taciturn? Why not, doesn't sound good and most people need to look it up to find out exactly what it means. The only thing is dour--stern, unyielding, harsh, and taciturn--disinclined to talk, aren't really negatives. If anything being dour would indicate a bonus to Charisma and how exactly is 'disinclined to talk' a negative. So someone doesn't want to babble unnecessarily, that's actually smart behavior in a rigid, militaristic society.

I agree but it does set a precedent of sorts as dwarves are one of the core races.

 

[Hawken]

I agree but it does set a precedent of sorts as dwarves are one of the core races.

It only becomes precedent if others continue to follow that example or use it to justify similar things. And weak or poor descriptions or rules should never be used to make an example or to set a standard.

I've been musing on the whole craving/healing part of the puzzle and wondered if it could be approached in a different way. The way the race is currently written they cannot gain healing through divine magic but otherwise heal as normal.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. What way they are currently written? If you give them the Tomb Tainted Soul feat, they heal through negative energy (Cause Wounds spells, rather than Cure Wounds).

And their need to feed is driven through a craving for blood rather than a healing necessity.

That's the way every living thing operates. No one eats to "heal" but to survive. Their need for blood (in addition to food and liquids) could be survival related such as a disease of the blood that causes them to require daily ingestion of fresh blood. Vampires do not inflict negative levels just for the hit point boost, the 5hp they get per negative level is more of a "side effect" of the negative energy transfer rather than a method for healing--especially since they get Fast Healing anyway.

What if they healed much slower than normal? This would be an issue for the non-adventuring members of the race and a severe limitation to adventurers? However, when they feed they gain hit points (either as a result of the damage dealt or as a time-limited fast-healing). This could be part of a coup de grace bite attack?

I'm not really sure where you're wanting to go with this. If they healed too slowly, they COULDN'T be adventurers. One combat would put them out of commission, assuming they even survived it. No one would want to play anything like that. What coup de grace bite attack? How/why would that be different than any other bite attack?

Also, if they have to feed on blood just to heal, that's not even viable, especially for an entire species. The logistics of that would require that they have to feed on another race daily just to survive. You couldn't have more than a dozen or so of those people in the same place at the same time--it would attract too much attention and they would quickly be hunted down and destroyed.

I can already see potential role playing moments with the dhampir character asking his/her neutral/evil comrades not to kill the last opponent as s/he needs one alive!

If I was around a character like that, I'd just wait til the dhampir was too weak and kill him off. Especially in an evil campaign. Someone knows a character has THAT kind of a weakness, kiss your dhampir good bye! He'd either be another body on the pile, or he'd quickly become enslaved. That kind of weakness is impossible to manage as a PC. A good group wouldn't tolerate that kind of a character. A neutral group might not care until the dhampir's feeding requirements drew a lot of unwanted attention their way. And an evil group would simply either kill or enslave the dhampir by using his weakness against him.

 

[Waylander]

OK . . . all things considered, with thanks to Hawken for feedback, here's where I think I am with this:

Dhampir Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, -2 Constitution. The vampire blood running through their veins make dhampir physically powerful but their time on the Plane of Shadows has reduced their ability to combat diseases on the Material Plane.
• Medium-size: As a medium-size people, dhampir have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
• Dhampir have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Weapon familiarity: Dhampir may treat the double scimitar as a martial weapon rather than an exotic weapon.
• Blood drain (Ex): A dhampir can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of hit point damage each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the dhampir heals hit points equivalent to the damage dealt.
• Craving (Ex): Dhampir must consume a number of hit points in blood per day equal to half their Constitution score (rounded up). If they do not feed on blood daily, they are fatigued until they do. If they go without blood for a week, they are exhausted and must make a Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) as if suffering from thirst. If a dhampir consumes double their daily requirement for blood they do not need further nourishment for that day (i.e. do not need to eat or drink).
• Shunned (Su): Seen as abominations by the gods, dhampir have the Tainted Soul feat as a bonus feat.
• Dark allure (Ex): Dhampir gain a +2 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate.
• Low-light vision (Ex): Dhampir can see in dim illumination as a human can in daylight to 120 feet.
• Curse of vampirism: Because of their vampiric heritage, dhampir suffer the following weaknesses:
  • Aura of Death: Animals, excluding bats, rats and wolves, can sense the true nature of the dhampir and resist control; they suffer a -5 penalty to Handle Animal and Ride checks.
  • Aversion to water: Dhampir have an innate fear of immersion in water and so finding swimming difficult; they suffer a -10 penalty to all Swim checks and can hold their breath only half as long as normal when immersed in water.
  • Light sensitivity: Dhampir are dazzled in daylight, they take a –1 penalty on attack rolls, Spot and Search checks.

 

[Hawken]

That looks really good to me. Short, sweet, and seems to be pretty well balanced between abilities and weaknesses.

I have a question about the blood drain though. Do your dhampir require a pin before the bite can happen (requiring a successful grapple check once the target is pinned), or do they get it as soon as the pin is made?

 

[Waylander]

That looks really good to me. Short, sweet, and seems to be pretty well balanced between abilities and weaknesses.

I have a question about the blood drain though. Do your dhampir require a pin before the bite can happen (requiring a successful grapple check once the target is pinned), or do they get it as soon as the pin is made?

The way I had thought about it was that a dhampir starts a grapple attack with a touch attack (provoking an attack of opportuinity unless s/he has the Improved Grapple Feat), and then makes an opposed grapple check as a free action. Success would mean a successful bite attack (for 1d4 blood drain damage). Maintaining the pin/bite attack would require a successful opposed grapple check each subsequent round.