No vampire giants?

[VirgilCaine]

Good.

I mean really, vampiric mind flayer? What, just eating the brain isn't enough, ya gotta suck out their blood and give 'em negative levels on top of that? Why not slap on an additional template on top of that, that gives them Take All Your Money Out Of The Bank, and Insult Your Mother attacks as well?

I have to say that ogres and giants MIGHT be good candidates...
...but it's weird for something so strong... Vampires are human--usually.
There's the whole helpless-to-powerful thing going on.
Former Commoner (5th level): "When I was human, I was weak, pitiful. Now, look at me!" *charmed slaves look*
See?

BTW, where did the negative level thing come from?
It seems weird...you always see vampires going for the blood-sucking, but in D&D, it's easier for them to box you to death than drink you dry...
I guess I think the negative levels takes away from the "specialness" or "uniqueness" of blood drinking. It's the thing for vampires to do, and it isn't the thing to do...

 

[Armadon63]

Man the first thing that came to mind for me was who built that big ass coffin for the vampire giant.

 

[Ghostmoon]

The Monstrous Vampire template, which works on giants, was presented in Ghostwalk and updated to 3.5 here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20031225a

 

[Liquidsabre]

The MMIII War Troll is classified as a monstrous humanoid for some reason and so would qualify heh.

Sweet, ncie one ghostmoon, I'll have to check that out.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Its probably just a flavor thing, but then why not just mention that in the description, rather than limiting it in the actual rules?

"Flavor" is a part of the rules. Otherwise creatures in the MM wouldn't have listed alignments, Angels would be "Bird-Winged Outsiders" while Devils and Demons were "Bat-Winged Outsiders," and none of the necromancy spells would be [Evil]. The game incorporates a certain general flavor, and its up to the DM to remove that flavor, if he chooses.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'm not sure about that, but I know that there's a vampiric gibbering mouther somewhere in the original adventure path modules.

That might be the one I'm thinking of.

-Hyp.

 

[Drew]

"Flavor" is a part of the rules. Otherwise creatures in the MM wouldn't have listed alignments, Angels would be "Bird-Winged Outsiders" while Devils and Demons were "Bat-Winged Outsiders," and none of the necromancy spells would be [Evil]. The game incorporates a certain general flavor, and its up to the DM to remove that flavor, if he chooses.

None of the rules you mention by their nature say that I can't change them. Yes, chaotic evil outsiders are "demons," but they aren't called "not t'anari." And alignment is not really just a flavor rule in D&D. Not with things like detect evil, holy swords, and word of chaos. Plus, according to the monster section of the SRD:

"Alignment: This line gives the alignment that the creature is most likely to have. Every entry includes a qualifier that indicates how broadly that alignment applies to the species as a whole."

I see your original point, and I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I tend to dislike rules restrictions where they aren't needed. If there isn't a sound mechanical reason to tell me I can't have a vampire ogre, then why restrict it? It might be STUPID to have a vampire black pudding, but that's not a good enough reason to outlaw it in the rules.

And yes, I know rules are easily trumped by a DM, which is what I'll do. I was just curious if I was missing something obvious.

By the way, the Lord of Frost is a unique NPC. He doesn't function exactly like a standard vamp, so no giant coffins.

 

[Mouseferatu]

By the way, the Lord of Frost is a unique NPC. He doesn't function exactly like a standard vamp, so no giant coffins.

Hey, works for me. Some day, if I haven't been able to sell the book in which he appears, I'll post stats for Apothehra, an awakened vampiric (modified) giant octopus with cleric levels.

Yes, I'm serious.

 

[rbingham2000]

A Vampiric Giant? NICE!

The first clue would be the party coming across buffalo and other rather big critters sucked bone-dry, the only trace being fang-marks too large for a human-sized creature to make.

Hmmm...big critter that makes absolutely no sound or tremor when it moves and that doesn't leave any tracks to follow, even on snow = CREEP-OUT CITY.

As for how it'll do the bloodsucking thing on smaller critters...biting off its head and feeding on what comes out of the stump comes to mind -- or if it's big enough, it could just swallow them whole.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I don't like the image of a vampiric ogre, troll or hill giant - those creatures are too brutish to achieve the proper balance of the beastial and the urbane. But a cloud or storm giant vampire? Veeeeery cool.

I also like the idea of a red dragon vampire. He would definitely be of the bite-the-head off and drink what comes out variety.