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theVoidWatches
2019-05-06, 03:07 PM
This is an update to my previous attempt to build vampirism as a prestige class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?579685), expanding it into a full class.



Level
Proficiency Bonus
Features
Maximum Blood Dice


1st
+2
Blood Dice, Bloodsucker, Undead Nature
3


2nd
+2
Vampiric Focus, Vampiric Taboo
3


3rd
+2
Hunter in the Night
4


4th
+2
Ability Score Improvement
4


5th
+3
Vampiric Fortitude, Bloodsucker Improvement
5


6th
+3
Vampiric Focus Feature
5


7th
+3
Silver Tongued Devill
6


8th
+3
Ability Score Improvement
7


9th
+4
Speed of Darkness
7


10th
+4
Eternal Reign
8


11th
+4
Vampiric Focus Feature, Bloodsucker Improvement
8


12th
+4
Ability Score Improvement
9


13th
+5
Hunter in the Night Improvement
10


14th
+5
Bloodsucker Improvement
11


15th
+5
Grappling Bite
12


16th
+5
Ability Score Improvement
12


17th
+6
Vampiric Fortitude Improvement, Bloodsucker Improvement
13


18th
+6
Vampiric Focus Feature
14


19th
+6
Ability Score Improvement
15


20th
+6
Subsistence
15



Class Features
As a Vampire, you gain the following class features:

Hit Points
Hit Dice: none (see Blood Dice)
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose three skills from Arcana, Athletics, Deception, History, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, or Religion.


Blood Dice
As an undead creature, you do not have Hit Dice representing your vitality. Instead, you have blood dice, which are d8s and which represent the vitality you have drained from others. The maximum amount of blood dice you may have at once increases as you gain levels in this class, and is shown in the Maximum Blood Dice column of the Vampire table.
At the conclusion of every 24-hour period, you lose one blood die. If you have no blood dice at the end of a long rest, your maximum health is reduced by 3 for each level you have taken in this class. This reduction cannot be fixed except by acquiring more blood dice. If you take a long or short rest while your maximum health is reduced by this feature and you have at least one blood die, your maximum health is restored to its normal maximum. If your maximum health is reduced to 0 by this feature, you die and cannot be resurrected without sacrificing all of a single living creature's blood as part of the spell used to resurrect you.
You may spend one blood die as a bonus action to roll the die, add your constitution modifier, and regain that much health.
If you are resurrected, you begin with 1 blood die.

Bloodsucker
As a vampire, you subside solely on the blood of the living. To do so, you gain a special attack called Blood Drain.
When a living humanoid is within your reach and is either willing, incapacitated, or has their speed reduced to 0, you can use a bonus action to bite the target and drain blood from them. The targeted humanoid takes 1d8 piercing damage and necrotic damage equal to your Charisma Modifier.
If you roll an 8 on one of the damage dice used in Blood Drain, or if this attack reduces the target to 0 HP, you regain 1 expended blood die.
This attack's damage increases by 1d4 necrotic damage when your character reaches 5th level in this class (2d8 piercing + Cha necrotic), 11th level in this class (3d8 piercing + Cha necrotic), and 17th level in this class (4d8 piercing + Cha necrotic).
Beginning at level 14, if your Blood Drain attack reduces a target to 0 HP, you regain 1 additional expended blood die.

Undead Nature
As an undead creature, you have no need of much of the requirements of the living. You do not need to eat, drink, or breath, and are immune to disease. Additionally, you have advantage on saves against spells that would force you to fall asleep.
You do not sleep, but instead enter a form of hibernation. You need to hibernate for only 4 hours in order to gain the benefits of a long rest, and may spend the other 4 hours engaged in light activity such as reading or keeping watch.
You have resistance to necrotic damage. Additionally, you are vulnerable to radiant damage.

Vampiric Focus
Beginning at level 2, your growing powers as a vampire begin to shape themselves according to your personality. Choose a focus for your vampiric powers from Dominating Mind, Creatures of the Night, Blood-Stained Hands, and Ghoulish Servitors. Your vampiric focus gives you features at 2nd, 6th, 11th, and 18th level, which are detailed at the end of this class description.

Vampiric Taboo
As your powers grow, their drawbacks do as well. Beginning at level 2, you are averse to several phenomena associated with vampiric lore (i.e. holy symbols, sunlight, running water, garlic, entering a home uninvited etc.). When you encounter one of these taboos you suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until the taboo is no longer present or in effect or you take an obvious action to resolve the taboo. This might involve recoiling from a holy symbol, counting the fallen grains of rice, etc. The DM determines if an action counts as one of your taboos, and if your reaction resolves it. The DM may also choose to give you the option to spend a Blood Die to resolve the taboo.
You can be effected by a taboo only once – when you first encounter it – and are thereafter immune to it until you have finished a short or long rest. Each taboo therefore requires you to endure it (and suffer disadvantage as outlined) or sacrifice an action with behaviour that might potentially reveal your nature as a vampire.
You must choose a number of taboos equal to 6 minus your Charisma modifier. If your Charisma modifier increases, choose one of your taboos to overcome and no longer suffer its effects. If your Charisma modifier decreases, you must choose an additional taboo.
This should be considered an optional feature. Your DM may choose to allow you to ignore this feature entirely when you take this class. If they do so, your maximum blood dice should be reduced by 1.

Hunter in the Night
Beginning at level 3, your skill at hunting the living as your prey grows as your mobility increases and your senses become sharp enough to hear heartbeats. You are always considered to be under the effects of the spider climb spell, and know the location of all living creatures within 30 feet of you. Additionally, you gain darkvision with a range of 30 feet.
Beginning at level 13, you can cast fly on yourself by spending 3 blood dice, or levitate on yourself by spending 2 blood dice.

Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, and 16th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Vampiric Fortitude
Beginning at level 5, the stores of vitality within you help you maintain your health even when you don't draw on them. As long as you have at least 1 unexpended blood die, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the number of unexpended blood dice you have at the beginning of each of your turns.
Beginning at level 17, you may add your Charisma modifier to the amount of Temporary Hit Points gained from this feature.
This feature does not function while you are in the presence to one of your taboos.

Silver Tongued Devil
Beginning at 7th level, your vampiric nature smooths over mistakes in the minds of others, making you always appear graceful and perfect. If you roll a 10 or below on the die when rolling a Charisma check, you may treat the roll as an 11.

Speed of Darkness
Beginning at level 9, you can use the blood you have drained to fuel incredible speed. Your walking speed is increased by 10 feet for every 5 unexpended blood dice you possess (rounding down). Additionally, you can spend a blood die to take the Dash action as a Bonus Action.
This feature does not function while you are in the presence to one of your taboos.

Eternal Reign
Beginning at level 10, if you die you can be resurrected without casting a spell. To do so, a living humanoid must be drained of all of its blood and the blood poured on your remains. This brings you back to life with 1 blood die.

Grappling Bite
Beginning at level 15, when you successfully grapple a living humanoid, you can attempt to use your Blood Drain attack as part of the same action. When you do so, your Blood Drain deals only 1d8 piercing damage and your Charisma modifier necrotic damage.
If you are grappling a living humanoid, you may use your Blood Drain attack as a attack in an attack action.

Subsistence
Beginning at level 20, you can survive for long periods of time on only a small quantity of blood. When you lose a d8 blood die at the end of a 24-hour period, you can gain one blood dice sized as a d4. If you have any d4 blood dice at the end of a 24-hour period, choose whether to lose a d8 blood die or a d4 blood die.
D4 blood dice count as half of a blood die for features that require you to spend blood dice (for example, you would need to spend 2d4 blood dice to dash as a bonus action with Speed of Darkness instead of 1d8 blood die), but as whole blood dice for features that count how many blood dice you have (for example, Vampiric Fortitude and your Blood Dice Maximum).



Vampiric Focuses



Dominating Mind
Your vampiric power and the store of stolen vitality within you allows you to warp the minds of the living, helping you hunt them down without them knowing or caring

Blood-Stained Tongue
Beginning at 2nd level, you learn how to cast Friends and Vicious Mockery. You can cast Charm Person or Command at 1st level by spending 1 blood die.
Additionally, you can use your Blood Drain effect on a creature which has failed a save causing it to be charmed by you. Doing so ends the effect.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Charming Devil
Beginning at 6th level, you can spend additional blood dice when casting Charm Person or Command to upcast them by 1 level per additional blood die spent, to a maximum spell level of half your vampire level (rounded up).
Additionally, you can cast Suggestion or Hold Person at 2nd level by spending 2 blood dice, and targets that are charmed by you have disadvantage when resisting your Blood Drain attack.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Master of the Mind
Beginning at 11th level, you can spend additional blood dice when casting Hold Person to upcast it by 1 level per additional blood die spent, to a maximum of half your vampire level (rounded up). You can spend additional blood dice when casting Suggestion to choose one additional target per additional blood die spent, to a maximum of half your vampire level (rounded up). When you do so, you must suggest one course of action for all of the targets. You can spend 3 blood dice to cast Dominate Beast at 4th level, 4 blood dice to cast Dominate Person at 5th level, or 4 blood dice to cast Hold Monster at 5th level.
Additionally, a creature that you have successfully used your Blood Drain attack on has disadvantage on the next save they make to avoid being charmed by you.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Lord of Monsters
Beginning at 18th level, you can spend additional blood dice when casting Dominate Beast, Dominate Monster, or Hold Monster to upcast them by 1 level per additional blood dice spent.
Additionally, you can spend 5 blood dice to cast Mass Suggestion at 6th level or 7 blood dice to cast Dominate Monster at 8th level.
After casting a spell at 6th level or higher using this feature, you cannot do so until after a long rest.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.



Creatures of the Night
Your vampiric power and store of stolen vitality allows you to warp your own body into other forms, becoming a true hunter.

Wolf Form
Beginning at 2nd level, you can spend 1 blood die as a bonus action to transform into a wolf. All of your abilities and features are replaced by those of a wolf, but you retain your alignment, personality, and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of a wolf. You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so - this includes your Blood Dice and Bloodsucker features. Your equipment merges into your body and reforms when you return to your normal shape, which you can do as a bonus action.
When you are a wolf, you regain 1 expended blood die whenever you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hp.
If you are reduced to 0 HP as a wolf, you are returned to your normal shape with HP equal to the amount of health you had before transforming, and cannot transform into a wolf again until after a long or short rest.

Unbound Form
Beginning at 6th level, your shapeshifting prowess allows you to manipulate your own shape with ease. While you have at least 3 unexpended blood dice, you can cast Disguise Self without expended a spell slot, and you can spend 3 blood dice to cast Alter Self.
Additionally, when you use your Wolf Form feature, you transform into a dire wolf instead of a wolf.

Bat Form
Beginning at 11th level, you can spend 2 blood dice as a bonus action to transform into your choice of a bat or a swarm of bats. All of your abilities and features are replaced by those of a bat or swarm of bats, but you retain your alignment, personality, health, and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of a bat or swarm of bats. You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so - this includes your Blood Dice and Bloodsucker features. Your equipment merges into your body and reforms when you return to your normal shape, which you can do as a bonus action.
If you are reduced to 0 HP as a bat or swarm of bats, you are returned to your normal shape with HP equal to the amount of health you had before transforming, and cannot transform into a bat or swarm of bats again until after a long or short rest.
Additionally, when you use your Wolf Form feature, you gain the Multiattack feature, allowing you to make 2 bite attacks as an action.

Mist Form
Beginning at level 18, you can spend 3 blood dice as a bonus action to transform into a cloud of mist. While you are a cloud of mist, you can't take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. You are weightless, have a flying speed of 20 feet, can hover, and can enter a hostile creature's space and stop there. In addition, if air can pass through a space, you can do so without squeezing, but you can't pass through water. You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and are immune to all nonmagical damage.
If you are reduced to 0 HP in your normal form, you automatically transform into a mist as a reaction as long as you have at least 3 blood dice, which are expended. After you do so, you have HP equal to the number of unexpended blood dice you have plus your Constitution modifier. If you do not have at least 3 blood dice, you fall unconscious as normal.
If you are reduced to 0 HP in your mist form, you die.
Additionally, when you use your Wolf Form feature, your Multiattack feature allows you to make 3 bite attacks as an action, and your health in that form is increased by your Vampire level.



Blood-Stained Hands
Your vampiric power and store of stolen vitality has turned inward, boosting your physical abilities to beyond mortal limits.

Blood-Soaked Vitality
Beginning at level 2, your maximum health increases by 2, and increases by 1 whenever you take a level in this class.
Your unarmed strikes deal 1d8 slashing damage, and you may use either your Str or Dex to attack with them. If you hit with an unarmed strike, you may choose to automatically grapple your target instead of dealing damage.
Additionally, you gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.

Burning Blood
Beginning at level 2, you can spend your stolen vitality to enhance your physical abilities. You gain the following options to spend your blood dice:
When you make a weapon attack against a creature, you can expend one blood die to add it to the attack roll. You can do so before or after making the attack roll, but before any of the effects of the attack are applied.
When you damage a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one blood die to add it to the damage roll as necrotic damage. You can use this ability after rolling damage.
When you are the target of an attack, you may spend a blood die as a reaction to roll the die and subtract the result from the attack roll. You can use this ability after the attack roll is made, but before the DM tells you the result.
When you are damaged by a melee attack, you may spend 1 blood die as a reaction to immediately make 1 melee weapon attack against the creature which damaged you. If your attack hits, you regain health lost to the triggering attack up to a maximum of your own damage roll.
When you make a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, you may spend a blood die as a reaction to roll the die and add the result to your roll. You can use this ability after making the roll, but before the DM tells you the result.

Extra Attack
Beginning at level 6, you can attack twice instead of once when you take the Attack action.

Fueled by Death
Beginning at level 11, whenever you expend blood dice to add to a damage roll, you can expend up to two dice instead of just one, adding both to the roll. Additionally, whenever you reduce a living humanoid to 0 HP with a weapon attack, you may immediately regain 1 expended blood die. Immediately after doing so, you may spend 1 blood die as a reaction to regain health equal to your Constitution modifier.

Extra Attack (II)
Beginning at level 18, you can attack three times instead of twice when you take the Attack action.



Ghoulish Servitors
Your vampiric power and store of stolen vitality manifests as a hold over those you have slain. You can raise them as loyal servants - slaves, really.

Half-Turned Slaves
Beginning at level 2, when you reduce a target to 0 HP using your Blood Drain attack, you may choose to transform them into a zombie instead of regaining an expended blood die. The zombie is completely loyal to you and will obey any commands you give it to the best of its ability. You may command it as a bonus action.
You may only have a number of zombies equal to or less than half of your Vampire level under your control at once using this feature. If you raise an additional zombie, one of your existing zombies crumbles to dust.
If you are reduced to 0 HP, you can instead choose one of your zombies as a reaction and cause it to crumble into dust. If you do so, you are reduced to 1 HP instead of 0.

Slavish Loyalty
Beginning at 6th level, you may spend a bonus action to destroy any number of your zombies, causing them to crumble to dust. If you do so, you regain 1 expended blood die for each zombie you destroy. You may then spend as up to the number of blood dice as you regained using this feature to roll them, adding the result of each die + your Constitution modifier to your health.
Additionally, any zombies you have created using your Half-Turned Slaves feature increase their maximum health by your Vampire level, and they may add your Proficiency bonus to their attack and damage rolls.

Ghoulish Lieutenant
Beginning at level 11, when you use your Half-Turned Slaves to transform a victim into a zombie, you may expend a blood die to instead transform them into a ghoul. The ghoul is completely loyal to you and will obey any commands you give it to the best of its ability. You may command it as a bonus action, and it can spend its own bonus action to command your zombies, unless you tell it otherwise.
Your ghoul retains any proficiencies it had in life, but does not remember specific information unless it is covered by a skill check. It benefits from Slavish Loyalty's bonus to health, attack, and damage as though it was one of your zombies.
You can only command 1 ghoul at a time using this feature. If you raise a second ghoul, your first ghoul crumbles into dust.
When you use Slavish Loyalty, you can also destroy your Ghoul. If you do so, you regain 2 expended blood dice.

Full-Turned Slave
Beginning at level 18, you may command your zombies or your ghoul without speaking or spending a bonus action.
Additionally, when you use your Half-Turned Slaves ability to transform a victim into a zombie, you may expend 5 blood dice to instead transform them into a vampire spawn. The vampire spawn is completely loyal to you and will obey any commands you give it to the best of its ability. You may command it as a bonus action, and it can spend its own bonus action to command your zombies, unless you tell it otherwise.
Your vampire spawn retains any proficiencies it had in life. It benefits from Slavish Loyalty's bonus to health, attack, and damage as though it was one of your zombies.
You can only command 1 vampire spawn at a time using this feature. If you raise a second vampire spawn, your first vampire spawn is freed from your control - it is no longer forced to obey your commands and is no longer forced to be loyal to you. It may continue to be friendly to you or not, depending on how you treated it. Your vampire spawn is also freed from your control if you are reduced to 0 HP, or if you choose to free it.
While you are commanding a vampire spawn, you cannot control as many zombies. The maximum number of zombies that you can control is reduced to 5, and you cannot control a ghoul. If you had more than 5 zombies or if you had a ghoul, the extras crumble into dust when you use this feature. Your maximum number of zombies is restored if your vampire spawn dies or is freed from your control.



v0.1 Initial Release!
Initial Release
v0.1.1
Corrected a handful of typos.
Turns out Suggestion doesn't have an upcast, so I specified that it should allow selecting multiple targets when you spend extra blood dice (this shouldn't be too powerful in comparison to Mass Suggestion, since that has a way better duration and can do way more targets.
v0.1.2
Added perquisite that you must have been bitten by a vampire.
Removed proficiencies section - instead gave a first-level feature Bonus Proficiencies.
Changed Blood Drain to always be a bonus action and require a grappled target.
Renamed Regeneration to Vampiric Fortitude.
v0.2 Now with Drawbacks!
Blood dice are now lost over time instead of gained over time, and if you run out then your maximum hit points will be reduced instead.
To counter the loss of blood dice over time, the maximum blood dice have been increased at every level, as has the rate at which your maximum increases.
Added the Vampiric Weaknesses feature.
Vampiric Fortitude will no longer function in sunlight.
v0.2.1
Adjusted wording of Bloodsucker.
v0.2.3
Blood Drain now scales as a cantrip, gaining an additional 1d4 necrotic damage at levels 5, 11, and 17. It now reaches 1d4 piercing + 4d4 necrotic damage. However, it no longer adds your Charisma modifier to the damage.
Replaced Well of Blood with Eternal Reign, which still lets you be resurrected without a spell but no longer gives you back used blood dice.
v0.3 Different Taboos
Fixed some typos.
Turned the Vampiric Weaknesses section into Vampiric Taboo based on CunningKindred's suggestion of how to handle taboos. The number of taboos is lower with higher charisma scores, but even with 20 you still end up with 1 taboo.
Altered how the Blood Dice Feature reduces your max health. Instead of a relatively static amount that could be ignored for some time by most high-level characters, the amount increases based on how many levels you take in this class. This is to represent a growing thirst for and dependence on blood as you develop your vampiric powers - a high-level barbarian who has only a single level of Vampire could ignore his thirst for quite a long time, but someone who devotes themselves more to their growing vampiric power would have greater need of blood.
v0.3.1
Clarified some wordings.
Blood Drain adds your Charisma Modifier to damage again.

v0.4.1 Full Class
Massive changes as this class is now a base class instead of a prestige class.
Bonus Proficiencies removed from level 1 and instead built into the default proficiencies of a base class.
Blood Dice maximums shifted, now running from 3 to 15 instead of from 2 to 13.
Blood Drain now scales with your levels in Vampire instead of your character level.
Additional ASIs at level 12 and 16.
Vampiric Focuses now give you a bonus at level 11 instead instead of level 10, and have an additional bonus at level 18.
Hunter in the Night's flight ability moved to level 13.
Vampiric Fortitude's +Charisma improvement moved to level 17.
New feature, Speed of Darkness at 9th level, increases your speed based on how much blood you have stored, and allows you to spend blood dice to dash.
New feature, Grappling Bite at level 15, lets you use the first level of Blood Drain (1d4+1d4+cha, where it's leveled up to 1d4+3d4+cha at that level when used as your bonus action) as part of a grapple attempt. This serves as a damage increase for the last tier of the game similar to the Cleric's second level of Divine Smite.
New feature, Subsistence at level 20, has you essentially lose Blood Dice at half speed, but also reduces the size of blood dice as you do so - it allows you to downgrade to a d4 instead of completely losing the die, which will double how long you can go without blood if necessary. D4 sized blood dice count as either a full or half die for different features, going mostly off of which is most inconvenient.
DOMINATING MIND: Master of the Mind also allows you to cast Hold Monster. Added Lord of Monsters at 18th level, allowing you to upcast Dominate Beast, Dominate Person, or Hold Monster, and to cast Mass Suggestion or Dominate Monster (once per day only).
CREATURES OF THE NIGHT: Transforming now gives you the health of the target form instead of leaving you with your own health. Shifted Bat Form to 11th level and Mist Form to 18th level. Added Unbound Form, allowing you to cast Disguise Self at will (if you have enough blood dice) and Alter Self. 6th level still gives you a Dire Wolf form and 11th level still gives you multiattack in wolf form - 18th level now gives you 3 attacks as a wolf, and boosted health.
BLOOD-STAINED HANDS: Now grants proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons. 18th level gives Extra Attack (II).
GHOULISH SERVITORS: Shifted Ghoulish Lieutenant to 11th level, with Slavish Loyalty coming to 6th level. The part of Ghoulish Lieutenant that gave a health, attack, and damage bonus remains at 6th level. Added Full-Turned Slave at 18th level to allow you to create vampire spawn - doing so is expensive (5 blood dice) and prevents you from controlling as many zombies (or your ghoul) for as long as the spawn is under your control.