Making a "Fake" Vampire

[FlamingKobold]

So one of my players wants to be able to make people think he's a vampire. However, he also wants to stay as a human-ish race (so most basic races would probably be fine), with no templates. I would generally recommend a full caster, but this is an E6 game, and he doesn't want to cast spells, though I think he might be fine with a half caster. I'm honestly at a loss as to what to tell him, since pretending to be a vampire will be dang hard without too much magic support, so I'm turning to the forums. I want to find a build that makes him as vampiric as possible by 6th level. Or, at least, seem vampiric to others.

TL;DR: Make a human into a passable vampire in 6 levels without too much spellcasting.

[Zaq]

Necropolitan is the obvious answer. That, or perhaps just maxed ranks in Bluff and Disguise. You'd be amazed what you can get away with by having enough Bluff and Disguise.

Anyway, what constitutes "vampiric"? There's an enormous body of vampire lore to draw upon. What are the important bits?

[Thurbane]

The Tomb Tainted feat chain gives you a progressively more Undead appearance, as does the Lich Loved feat.

[RaggedAngel]

Alternatively, make him a Changeling if appearance is all that matters. They have a transmutation version of Disguise Self at will.

[TroubleBrewing]

I'd check the usual sites to see if anybody's got a vampire savage progression.

[RaginChangeling]

Changeling is probably best if they just want to fool others, their inherent abilities get some ridiculous bonus to disguise checks and they actually shapeshift a little bit.

They could always just take a Rogue and boost the disguise check, or buy a Hat of Disguise which'll be well within their wealth by level.

If they want to mimic a Vampire's powers instead... 1 level in Warlock can get them infinite Summon Swarm to summon swarms of bats. D

[FlamingKobold]

So right now I'm thinking Changeling with Tomb Tainted Soul, or maybe Lich loved. Probably levels in Warlock and maybe ninja (I know it's super sub-optimal, but this uy doesn't care about power that much). Ninja not only lets him max out disguise and bluff, but attacks from the shadows and invisibility would add to the effect, I think.

We want to avoid templates and reliance on items, so I think necropolitan and hat of disguise are out.

Any classes besides Warlock and ninja/rogue?

[Safety Sword]

Name them Count Von Somethingsomething.

Always makes my players immediately suspect undead blood sucking evildoers.

[nyarlathotep]

dhampyr from bestiary 2 if pathfinder is allowed.

[Zonugal]

Perhaps the half-vampire template from Libris Mortis?

[Epsilon Rose]

I don't know if it exists in E6 but I'm sure there's some vestige that could do that. Also Bluff is probably enough. Vampires are supposed to look human, right? How would someone know if he's lying or not short of casting cure on him (which is probably the biggest issue)?

[Prime32]

Druid duplicates vampire abilities very well. Or if he doesn't want the casting, Wildshape ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger).

[Blackjackg]

In addition to the points noted above, you might want to give some thought to using magic to make this dude show up on a Detect Undead spell. I'm not aware of any existing spell that does this, but the 1st level spell Nystul's Magic Aura does a similar thing. Homebrewing a Level 1 cleric version called Undead Aura shouldn't be difficult.

If your player is serious about avoiding caster levels, he could splash out for a wondrous item (a cape seems somehow appropriate) at 2,000 gp for a permanent effect. That way you don't even have to stat out the spell. Just say "this cloak makes you seem like you're undead."

[Prime32]

In addition to the points noted above, you might want to give some thought to using magic to make this dude show up on a Detect Undead spell. I'm not aware of any existing spell that does this, but the 1st level spell Nystul's Magic Aura does a similar thing. Homebrewing a Level 1 cleric version called Undead Aura shouldn't be difficult.

If your player is serious about avoiding caster levels, he could splash out for a wondrous item (a cape seems somehow appropriate) at 2,000 gp for a permanent effect. That way you don't even have to stat out the spell. Just say "this cloak makes you seem like you're undead."Or use a cloak that is an undead. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6880)

[Kosjsjach]

In addition to the points noted above, you might want to give some thought to using magic to make this dude show up on a Detect Undead spell. I'm not aware of any existing spell that does this, but the 1st level spell Nystul's Magic Aura does a similar thing. Homebrewing a Level 1 cleric version called Undead Aura shouldn't be difficult.

If your player is serious about avoiding caster levels, he could splash out for a wondrous item (a cape seems somehow appropriate) at 2,000 gp for a permanent effect. That way you don't even have to stat out the spell. Just say "this cloak makes you seem like you're undead."
Assuming undead aura is a modified version of magic aura (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicAura.htm), a continuous item should only cost 1'000gp since the regular duration is 1 day/level.
If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a 24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.
That said, I rather like the idea of an undead-seeming cloak.

[HalfDragonCube]

Chalk costs 1cp a stick in the PHB.

Buy one and rub it on your skin.

Buy two more, file them down and stick them on for fangs.

3cp/day vampire costume!

[VirOath]

Yuck! Chalk mouth.

But Hat of Disguise should do the trick. But making people think you are a vampire is more about acting the part than being the part.

The trick becomes how far do they want to take the act? how much do they want to be able to do the tings a vampire can do?

[mangosta71]

Vampires are supposed to look human, right?
Not entirely. Check the MM - vampires look like feral versions of the base race. They might be mistaken for human from a distance, but up close the features are distinguishable enough to not be mistaken.

Changeling would have been my recommendation for the reasons mentioned already - easy, versatile race with at will alter self and no ECL adjustment. Probably rogue for the class and build focusing on social skills.

[hivedragon]

http://www.decorations-for-halloween.com/vampire_makeup_kit.jpg
all you need/thread

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the obvious Transylvanian accent needed.

You're the DM. I have an optimal "pseudo" vampire in my build compendium that's just vampiric enough to get juicy character optio

[mabriss lethe]

Animal Devotion might create some Vampire-like abilities with a little refluffing. (you can use it to boost strength, speed, gain flight, or gain a bite attack) You could then tack that onto any character class.

Crusader levels or Martial study/stance (both for Devoted Spirit access) can be used to give the character a vampiric feel when using the health recovery strikes and stances. Also, the entire shadow hand school would be perfectly in line with a vampire's affinity for darkness.

[Fitz10019]

Anyway, what constitutes "vampiric"? There's an enormous body of vampire lore to draw upon. What are the important bits?

Permanenced Glitterdust + Remove Blindness/Deafness
heh

[HalfDragonCube]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the obvious Transylvanian accent needed.

And make sure that you just spell your name backwards every time you need a pseudonym.

For vampires, that one works on everybody.

[dps]

But making people think you are a vampire is more about acting the part than being the part.


This. Looking like a vampire can be accomplished by simple disguise. The trick is acting like one, so make him role-play it.

[Jeebers]

Yes, and you have to say "Bleah! Bleah!" a lot.:smallbiggrin:

[McSmack]

One of the old Eberron premade adventures had a changeling cleric who pretended to be a vampire. He had a glamored breastplate that looked like dark runed robes, red glowing eyes and a pallid appearence. He prepared fog cloud and had a potion of invisibility so he could 'turn into fog'. Worked out pretty well every time I've ran it.

[FMArthur]

If you're going for "very unnatural, vaguely unsettling human", then the Elan race fits the bill quite well. They also have some incredibly effective survival measures that don't actually show any sign, letting them resist spells and attacks with amazing ease despite appearing to be frail, pale humans. They also possess the ability to sustain themselves indefinitely without eating, drinking, or aging.

[Rei_Jin]

I've actually had something very much like this come up in a game I'm involved in, where we're working for a Vampire and the intention is that we'll all become Vampires eventually. Deciding that I wanted to stay human, but appear vampiric.

Four levels of Warlock will get you Spiderclimb, See in Darkness, and the ability to either create Darkness or Swarms, or have +6 to Bluff and Intimidate (pick one). To that, you could add two Fighter levels to grab a few bonus feats that the Vampire normally gets. It would look like this with a 32 point buy...

Race: Human
Class: Warlock4/Fighter2

Stats:
STR: 14
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 14

Skills:
Bluff: 7 ranks
Disguise: 7 ranks
Intimidate: 5 ranks
Jump: 5 ranks
Knowledge (Religion) 7 ranks
Sense Motive: 7 ranks

Feats:
Level 1 (Human Bonus): Tomb Tainted Soul
Level 1: Tomb Born Fortitude
Level 3: Tomb Born Resilience
Level 6: Tomb Born Vitality
Level 5 (Fighter 1): Combat Reflexes
Level 6 (Fighter 2): Improved Initiative

Invocations:
Beguiling Influence
Devils Sight
Spiderwalk

For gear, you need to get him something that gives a boost to his spot and listen, as Vampires get +8 to both of those skills. Also, a Cloak of Resistance would be a good idea, to offset the fact that he's not getting Iron Will or Lightning Reflexes like a vampire would.

In regards to the skills, he needs Bluff to lie to people, Disguise to look like a vampire (A Hat of Disguise would be a great help too), Intimidate to be imposing like a vampire, Knowledge (Religion) so that he knows how a vampire would act and therefore what to mimic, Jump because vampires are normally quick and light on their feet, and Sense Motive because vampires get a +8 bonus to that as well.

That's about the best I can do with a level 6 character and no homebrew.

[holywhippet]

Depending on how smart he expects others to be, he could use some prestige classes to gain powers that the uneducated might think a vampire could have. Like levels in shadowdancer to be able to summon shadows and shadow jump. The darkvision ability will help if he takes a race that can't see in the dark normally.

The main problem with making a fake vampire is dealing with the weaknesses. Vulnerability to sunlight and holy water are two important ones.

[Rei_Jin]

That's not an option sadly, due to the low level of this build. It's an E6 game, meaning max level is 6

[dextercorvia]

Wizard5/Swordsage1

I recommend Wild Cohort and Obtain Familiar. Then he can hang out with a wolf and a bat. Vampiric Touch (shared) will give him that vampy feeling. Planar Touchstone, Catalogs of Enlightenment:Hunger gets him a bite attack.

Child of Shadow, Island of Blades, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Shadow Jaunt, Drain Vitality, Cloak of Deception make for vampiric maneuver choices. You can be holding the charge on Vampiric Touch when you initiate a Strike.