iltharanos
Explorer
The recommendation honestly doesn't make sense to me. Aside from what Paul said that it's meant to evoke the character Blade, why would the fact that a dhampir's bite and speed mean that vampires have to be "upgraded" to match?Dhampir I give one star out five stars. Why a hybrid lineage would be better at things the base monster is eludes me. A base speed of 35 makes too good of a thing for monks, rogues, or mobile type builds not to take. And bite attack is better than a vampire bite. A vampire has to have a successful grapple attack before it can bite attack. A Dhampir can bite as long as it has an attack action. I recommend if a Dhampir is in the party, give the same speed and bite at will to nearby vampire creatures.
- D&D makes hybrids better at <insert feature> than a lot of the base creatures. Half-orcs are a really good example, they're a better orc than orcs. Half-elves, prior to the free-floating stat change, were arguably better Paladins than base humans, and maybe even v. humans.
- Dhampirs have a better bite in the sense that the target doesn't need to be, "one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by the vampire, incapacitated, or restrained." However, the vampire's bite reduces the target creature's HP max and if reduced enough transforms the creature into a vampire spawn under the vampire's control.
- Dhampirs have a faster walking speed than vampires, yes. But vampires are shapechangers and can turn into mist (easy squeeze) and bats (and thus fly).
- Vampires also have a ton of other features dhampirs don't get that makes them much more powerful:
- Proficiency in three saving throws
- Damage Resistances to Necrotic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
- Legendary Resistance (3/Day).
- Regeneration 20
- Charm as an action
- Summoning of bats, rats, and wolves
- Legendary actions