Helldritch
Hero
So. Ya wanna build a vampire race?
Check the Ixalan PDF
Vampire Traits
Your vampire character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma
score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score
increases by 1.
Age. Vampires don’t mature and age in the
same way that other races do.
Alignment. Vampires might not have an innate
tendency toward evil, but many of them
end up there. Evil or not, their strict hierarchies
incline them toward a lawful alignment.
Size. Vampires are the same size and build
as humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Thanks to your heritage, you
have superior vision in dark and dim conditions.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of
you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as
if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in
darkness, only shades of gray.
Vampiric Resistance. You have resistance
to necrotic damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write
Common (if it exists in your campaign) and
Vampire.
Bloodthirst. You can drain blood and life
energy from a willing creature, or one that is
grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained.
Make a melee attack against the target. If you
hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic
damage. The target’s hit point maximum
is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic
damage taken, and you regain hit points equal
to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target
finishes a long rest. The target dies if this
effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Feast of Blood. When you drain blood with
your Bloodthirst ability, you experience a surge
of vitality. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and
you gain advantage on Strength and Dexterity
checks and saving throws for 1 minute.
There you go mate. Ya got yar vamp. T'was easy to do ain't it?
Again, anything can be done and undone by the setting. Going for specifics outside the PHB is useless and pointless. The fixed Racial ASI are there to reinforce tropes and help playing both for and against type. The FR-ASI are a great tool that promotes diversity in builds and not the other way around. Starting with a 15 isn't that bad per see. It helps promote playing against type. When you have no types, then the race is only a matter of how you look. You have no struggle to play against type simply because nothing is holding you back.
Yes you can still play against culture and what not. But if there is no mechanical downside to do something, you have absolutely no merit on what you do. Grats, your dwarven fighter is a happy go lucky friendly guy who drinks water and likes elves. Where is the struggle in that? Ho... you're a bard? Hahem... not only do you play against type but you're also playing against culture. Now that is a change that has merits on its own.
Not that playing against culture can't be fun. It can absolutely be good. But you get no drawbacks in doing so. For me, it's kinda of a safety net in case the RP does not work, I can still be ok. Whereas going against type with fixed ASI is a wild and bold move that you'll have to work a lot to make it work. But one thing is sure, fixed ASI have always been good both for lore and tropes. They have been there since the 1ed. If something has worked out for so long, it must mean something. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. ASI were not broken. But they fixed it anyway, and in so doing, broke it even more than what it wasmeant appearing to be. Check mountain dwarves and half-elves. It's gonna be hard to beat these.
Check the Ixalan PDF
Vampire Traits
Your vampire character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma
score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score
increases by 1.
Age. Vampires don’t mature and age in the
same way that other races do.
Alignment. Vampires might not have an innate
tendency toward evil, but many of them
end up there. Evil or not, their strict hierarchies
incline them toward a lawful alignment.
Size. Vampires are the same size and build
as humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Thanks to your heritage, you
have superior vision in dark and dim conditions.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of
you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as
if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in
darkness, only shades of gray.
Vampiric Resistance. You have resistance
to necrotic damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write
Common (if it exists in your campaign) and
Vampire.
Bloodthirst. You can drain blood and life
energy from a willing creature, or one that is
grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained.
Make a melee attack against the target. If you
hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic
damage. The target’s hit point maximum
is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic
damage taken, and you regain hit points equal
to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target
finishes a long rest. The target dies if this
effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Feast of Blood. When you drain blood with
your Bloodthirst ability, you experience a surge
of vitality. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and
you gain advantage on Strength and Dexterity
checks and saving throws for 1 minute.
There you go mate. Ya got yar vamp. T'was easy to do ain't it?
Again, anything can be done and undone by the setting. Going for specifics outside the PHB is useless and pointless. The fixed Racial ASI are there to reinforce tropes and help playing both for and against type. The FR-ASI are a great tool that promotes diversity in builds and not the other way around. Starting with a 15 isn't that bad per see. It helps promote playing against type. When you have no types, then the race is only a matter of how you look. You have no struggle to play against type simply because nothing is holding you back.
Yes you can still play against culture and what not. But if there is no mechanical downside to do something, you have absolutely no merit on what you do. Grats, your dwarven fighter is a happy go lucky friendly guy who drinks water and likes elves. Where is the struggle in that? Ho... you're a bard? Hahem... not only do you play against type but you're also playing against culture. Now that is a change that has merits on its own.
Not that playing against culture can't be fun. It can absolutely be good. But you get no drawbacks in doing so. For me, it's kinda of a safety net in case the RP does not work, I can still be ok. Whereas going against type with fixed ASI is a wild and bold move that you'll have to work a lot to make it work. But one thing is sure, fixed ASI have always been good both for lore and tropes. They have been there since the 1ed. If something has worked out for so long, it must mean something. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. ASI were not broken. But they fixed it anyway, and in so doing, broke it even more than what it was
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