Jane_Smith
2010-01-20, 07:57 PM
Goals: Remove christianized elements - such as weaknesses to running water, shadowless, cannot enter domains without an invitation, repelled by garlic/holy symbols, etc. Weaken to the point its LA is within a playable level for lower-level games (+2 is my primary target). Nerf overpowering abilities, remove abilities that are dracula-tized such as shape-shifting and bat/spider/rat/wolf elements.
Plans: Make Bloodline feats, that work like heritage feats for sorcerers. These feats will give the vampire spiderclimb, negative-energy levels when it attacks an enemy in melee/blood drains, higher jumps, levitation, fly, shape-shifting, maipulation powers, etc. A bit like v:tm in that vampires can 'evolve' from their birth-forms with enough time.
Overall - this is the base vampire template. It has as little fluff/weaknesses as possible. I beleive vampires should -grow with age and experience-, which is why im making many of their older abilities into feats and possibly a vampire lord prestige class. Yes, it will have dracula for a portrait of that class. :smallamused: These vampires, however, are more akin to those from the underworld movie series.
Anyway, enjoy and happy reveiwing. Also keep in mind this uses pathfinder rules - and while I know they have no clear LA values in that setting, I still use it even in pathfinder games. Thus I am still trying to aquire a precise LA for this template - just in case I wish to revert it into 3.5 again, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Vampire~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.neostate.net/images/vampire.jpg
Vampires appear just as they did in life, although their features are often hardened and feral, with a hint of a predatory sense about them. Like liches, they often embrace finery and decadence and may assume the guise of nobility. It is difficult to tell a vampire from an average creature of its kind, but their are a few ways past this, such as their lack of reflections.
Vampires cannot be created normally. Only vampire lords, high level necromancy spells, or vampires with the Sire of Darkness feat can create new vampires. In rare cases, a living humanoid mother gives birth to a vampire child. This usually results from the act of rape or a serious, bloody event in the mothers life that consumes her with an undying hatred for the father of the child, and possibly the child itself. These vampires are usually consumed threwout their exsistance with a need for vengence, led on a road of slaughter by some unseen hand until their father lies dead at their feet, at which point they are free. Rarer still is a female vampire capable of coupling with others of her kind and giving birth to new vampires - though this is more of a tall tale.
Vampires speak any languages they knew in life.
~~~~~Creating A Vampire
"Vampire" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
~~~Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to undead (augmented). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
~~~Hit Dice
Increase all current and future Hit Dice (including that gained by class levels) to d8s. As undead, vampires use their Charisma modifier to determine bonus hit points (instead of Constitution).
~~~Speed
Same as the base creature.
~~~Armor Class
The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +2.
~~~Attacks
A vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature. If the base creature can use weapons, the vampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A vampire fighting without weapons uses either its primary natural weapon (if it has any) or an unarmed strike like any other creature. A vampire armed with a weapon uses its natural attacks or a weapon, as it desires.
~~~Special Attacks
A vampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 vampire’s HD + vampire’s Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.
Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire can suck blood from a grappled opponent; if the vampire establishes or maintains a pin, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage. The vampire heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points (up to a maximum number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit points) each round it drains blood.
Dominate (Su): A vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 5th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire’s blood drain rises as a ghoul 1d6+1 days later. The ghoul is under the command of the vampire that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. At any given time a vampire may have enslaved ghouls totaling no more than twice its own Hit Dice; any ghoul it creates that would exceed this limit are created as free-willed undead. A ghoul that is enslaved may create and enslave spawn of its own, so a master vampire can control a number of ghouls in this fashion. A vampire may voluntarily free an enslaved ghoul in order to enslave a new one, but once freed, a ghoul cannot be enslaved again.
~~~Special Qualities
A vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Damage Reduction (Su): A vampire has damage reduction 5/-. A vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it is automatically destroyed. Any additional damage dealt to a destroyed vampire has no effect, a vampire has no negative hit points.
Reflectionless (Ex): A vampire casts no reflection in a mirror, and cannot trigger or be affected by any mirror based spell or ability, such as a Mirror of Opposition's effect, or the Mirrorwalk spell.
Turn Resistance (Ex): A vampire gains a bonus on saving throws against channel energy equal to its Charisma bonus (if positive).
~~~Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +2. As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score. Vampires do not physically age, but their minds do. Vampires do not suffer any negative effects from further aging (they still retain negative aging modifiers they had before becoming a vampire, however), but they do gain the bonuses to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma as they grow older.
~~~Skills
Vampires have a +4 racial bonus on Acrobatics, Perception and Stealth checks, and on Bluff and Disguise checks used to hide their undead nature. Otherwise same as the base creature.
~~~Feats
Vampires gain Improved Initiative as a bonus feat, assuming the base creature doesn’t already have this feat.
~~~Environment
Any, usually same as base creature.
~~~Organization
Solitary, pair, gang (3-5), troupe (1-2 plus 2-5 ghouls), or gathering (5-10, plus 25-50 ghouls)
~~~Challenge Rating
Same as the base creature +1.
~~~Treasure
Double standard.
~~~Alignment
Usually evil (any).
~~~Advancement
By character class.
~~~Level Adjustment
Same as the base creature +2.
~~~Vampire Weaknesses
For all their power, vampires are helpless against sunlight.
Slaying a Vampire: Reducing a vampire’s hit points to 0 or lower destroys it (see the note on fast healing). However, sunlight can slay vampires nearly immediately. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it: It can take only a single move action or standard action and is destroyed utterly in the next round if it cannot escape.
Plans: Make Bloodline feats, that work like heritage feats for sorcerers. These feats will give the vampire spiderclimb, negative-energy levels when it attacks an enemy in melee/blood drains, higher jumps, levitation, fly, shape-shifting, maipulation powers, etc. A bit like v:tm in that vampires can 'evolve' from their birth-forms with enough time.
Overall - this is the base vampire template. It has as little fluff/weaknesses as possible. I beleive vampires should -grow with age and experience-, which is why im making many of their older abilities into feats and possibly a vampire lord prestige class. Yes, it will have dracula for a portrait of that class. :smallamused: These vampires, however, are more akin to those from the underworld movie series.
Anyway, enjoy and happy reveiwing. Also keep in mind this uses pathfinder rules - and while I know they have no clear LA values in that setting, I still use it even in pathfinder games. Thus I am still trying to aquire a precise LA for this template - just in case I wish to revert it into 3.5 again, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Vampire~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.neostate.net/images/vampire.jpg
Vampires appear just as they did in life, although their features are often hardened and feral, with a hint of a predatory sense about them. Like liches, they often embrace finery and decadence and may assume the guise of nobility. It is difficult to tell a vampire from an average creature of its kind, but their are a few ways past this, such as their lack of reflections.
Vampires cannot be created normally. Only vampire lords, high level necromancy spells, or vampires with the Sire of Darkness feat can create new vampires. In rare cases, a living humanoid mother gives birth to a vampire child. This usually results from the act of rape or a serious, bloody event in the mothers life that consumes her with an undying hatred for the father of the child, and possibly the child itself. These vampires are usually consumed threwout their exsistance with a need for vengence, led on a road of slaughter by some unseen hand until their father lies dead at their feet, at which point they are free. Rarer still is a female vampire capable of coupling with others of her kind and giving birth to new vampires - though this is more of a tall tale.
Vampires speak any languages they knew in life.
~~~~~Creating A Vampire
"Vampire" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
~~~Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to undead (augmented). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
~~~Hit Dice
Increase all current and future Hit Dice (including that gained by class levels) to d8s. As undead, vampires use their Charisma modifier to determine bonus hit points (instead of Constitution).
~~~Speed
Same as the base creature.
~~~Armor Class
The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +2.
~~~Attacks
A vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature. If the base creature can use weapons, the vampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A vampire fighting without weapons uses either its primary natural weapon (if it has any) or an unarmed strike like any other creature. A vampire armed with a weapon uses its natural attacks or a weapon, as it desires.
~~~Special Attacks
A vampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 vampire’s HD + vampire’s Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.
Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire can suck blood from a grappled opponent; if the vampire establishes or maintains a pin, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage. The vampire heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points (up to a maximum number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit points) each round it drains blood.
Dominate (Su): A vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 5th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire’s blood drain rises as a ghoul 1d6+1 days later. The ghoul is under the command of the vampire that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. At any given time a vampire may have enslaved ghouls totaling no more than twice its own Hit Dice; any ghoul it creates that would exceed this limit are created as free-willed undead. A ghoul that is enslaved may create and enslave spawn of its own, so a master vampire can control a number of ghouls in this fashion. A vampire may voluntarily free an enslaved ghoul in order to enslave a new one, but once freed, a ghoul cannot be enslaved again.
~~~Special Qualities
A vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Damage Reduction (Su): A vampire has damage reduction 5/-. A vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it is automatically destroyed. Any additional damage dealt to a destroyed vampire has no effect, a vampire has no negative hit points.
Reflectionless (Ex): A vampire casts no reflection in a mirror, and cannot trigger or be affected by any mirror based spell or ability, such as a Mirror of Opposition's effect, or the Mirrorwalk spell.
Turn Resistance (Ex): A vampire gains a bonus on saving throws against channel energy equal to its Charisma bonus (if positive).
~~~Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +2. As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score. Vampires do not physically age, but their minds do. Vampires do not suffer any negative effects from further aging (they still retain negative aging modifiers they had before becoming a vampire, however), but they do gain the bonuses to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma as they grow older.
~~~Skills
Vampires have a +4 racial bonus on Acrobatics, Perception and Stealth checks, and on Bluff and Disguise checks used to hide their undead nature. Otherwise same as the base creature.
~~~Feats
Vampires gain Improved Initiative as a bonus feat, assuming the base creature doesn’t already have this feat.
~~~Environment
Any, usually same as base creature.
~~~Organization
Solitary, pair, gang (3-5), troupe (1-2 plus 2-5 ghouls), or gathering (5-10, plus 25-50 ghouls)
~~~Challenge Rating
Same as the base creature +1.
~~~Treasure
Double standard.
~~~Alignment
Usually evil (any).
~~~Advancement
By character class.
~~~Level Adjustment
Same as the base creature +2.
~~~Vampire Weaknesses
For all their power, vampires are helpless against sunlight.
Slaying a Vampire: Reducing a vampire’s hit points to 0 or lower destroys it (see the note on fast healing). However, sunlight can slay vampires nearly immediately. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it: It can take only a single move action or standard action and is destroyed utterly in the next round if it cannot escape.