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Jeivar
2019-08-11, 04:53 PM
I started doodling and threw this together in a few minutes. I just wanted to get some thoughts on it; if you feel it's too powerful, too weak, or too boring.

Strength +2
Charisma +1

Darkvision

Proficient with the Stealth skill.

Resistant to Necrotic damage.

Drain Blood: The Dhampir can drain the blood of a living humanoid that is either not resisting or helpless. The character may take on HP per round if making a rushed, brutal attack, or one HP every other round if feeding discreetly, such as on a sleeping person. Each HP taken is transferred to the Dhampir, to its HP maximum.
The Dhampir's fangs are small, but a suspicious character looking closely may notice them if they make a Perception roll vs. the Dhampir's passive Wisdom check. Being found out will at best cause the Dhampir to be treated with great mistrust.

Gaze: Once per long rest the Dhampir can target one humanoid within 30 feet with its gaze. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed. The difficulty is 8+ the Dhampir's Charisma modifier + Proficiency bonus.
The Dhampir cannot use this ability during daytime.
The effect lasts for one hour.



I'm wondering if I should make the blood draining more interesting somehow; if I can get away with making it more powerful given that the fangs put the character in constant danger of torches and pitchforks. Of if I should give them a NEED to drink blood. But that would be pretty crippling for an adventurer, given that they often go on long trips into the wilderness.

JNAProductions
2019-08-11, 05:03 PM
So, it's boring. Really boring.

Drain Blood needs cleaning up, but since it specifies humanoid, it passes the Bag Of Rats Test.

Gaze DC should be 8+Cha+Prof, not 10. It also needs a duration.

Justicar
2019-08-11, 11:27 PM
Well, Wizards of the Coast have already put out free 5e supplements on DriveThruRPG about Magic the Gathering planes. Vampires are races on Ixalan and Vendikar. You could download them and use those as the basis of your Dhampir. I'll go ahead and copy just the Vampire information here if you want.


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.


Vampire Traits
Your vampire character has the following traits as a result of the unique origins of your kind.

Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age: Vampires don’t mature and age in the same way that other races do. Every living vampire is either a bloodchief, infected by Ulamog’s influence in the distant reaches of history, or was spawned by a bloodchief from a living human. Most vampires are thus very old, but few have any memory of their earliest years.

Alignment: Vampires have no innate tendency toward evil, but consuming the life energy of other creatures often pushes them to that end. Regardless of their moral bent, the strict hierarchies of their bloodchiefs inclines them toward a lawful alignment.

Size: Vampires are about 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.

Blood Thirst: 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. A humanoid killed in this way becomes a null (use the Zombie stat block).

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and Vampire.

Jeivar
2019-08-12, 07:03 AM
So, it's boring. Really boring.

I appreciate the candour, but could you clarify? I would certainly LIKE to give it more vampire powers, but looking at the basic races it would be very easy to make it too powerful.

Maybe allow shapeshifting once per long rest, instead of Charm? Or allow a player to choose between.



Gaze DC should be 8+Cha+Prof, not 10. It also needs a duration.

Of course. Thanks. I made that change.



Well, Wizards of the Coast have already put out free 5e supplements on DriveThruRPG about Magic the Gathering planes. Vampires are races on Ixalan and Vendikar. You could download them and use those as the basis of your Dhampir. I'll go ahead and copy just the Vampire information here if you want.


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.


Vampire Traits
Your vampire character has the following traits as a result of the unique origins of your kind.

Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age: Vampires don’t mature and age in the same way that other races do. Every living vampire is either a bloodchief, infected by Ulamog’s influence in the distant reaches of history, or was spawned by a bloodchief from a living human. Most vampires are thus very old, but few have any memory of their earliest years.

Alignment: Vampires have no innate tendency toward evil, but consuming the life energy of other creatures often pushes them to that end. Regardless of their moral bent, the strict hierarchies of their bloodchiefs inclines them toward a lawful alignment.

Size: Vampires are about 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.

Blood Thirst: 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. A humanoid killed in this way becomes a null (use the Zombie stat block).

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and Vampire.

Oh, thanks. That is interesting, although for something being billed as a full vampire it's pretty weak.

I'll think about this.

Bjarkmundur
2019-08-12, 06:51 PM
Half-Vampire, let's go.

We can use the template given to use on other half-humans to come up with a race that gives "some of the vampire features and a bonus skill". I don't know the lore all that well, but I know races.

Let's just start with a honest-to-monster manual vampire race, and start stripping off features.


Vampire
Ability score increases: Your Charisma and Dexterity score increases by 1.
Size: Medium
Speed: 30ft
Senses: Darkvision up to 30ft.
Claws: Your unarmed attacks deal 1d4 damage, and is considered a natural weapon with the light property.
Undead: Your creature type is undead as well as humanoid. You have resistance to necrotic damage, are immune to disease and you don't need to breathe or sleep.
Vampire Tactics: You gain proficiency in two of the following skills: Stealth, Deception, Persuasion and Acrobatics.
Languages: Common, one other.
Spider Climb: You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Vampire Weaknesses
Forbiddance: You can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
Harmed by Running Water: If you end your turn in running water you take acid damage equal to your level x 5.
Stake to the Heart: If a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into the your heart while you are Incapacitated in your Resting place, you are Paralyzed until the stake is removed.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity: While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on Attack rolls and Ability Checks. Additionally, you take radiant damage equal to your level x 5 when you start your turn in sunlight.
Recoil: When you take damage from ending your turn in running water or direct sunlight you cannot regain hit points or cast any vampire spells until the end of your next turn.
Diet Dependency: If you go for longer than seven days without drinking at least one ration of blood, you suffer one level of exhaustion on the midnight of that day, which can only be removed by drinking a ration of blood. After consuming one ration of blood, you recover all levels of exhaustion.
Regeneration: If you start your turn with at least 1 hit point remaining, you regain hit points equal to half your level (minimum 1).
Vampire Magic: When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Charm Person once, and it recharges after a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast Animate Dead (Zombie) once, and it recharges after a long rest. When you reach 7th level, you can cast Polymorph (Bat) once, but only on yourself, and it recharges after a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Vampire Bite: As an action, you can make a unarmed attack against one willing, paralyzed, charmed, incapacitated, restrained or grappled creature. The attack deals 1d4 piercing damage and necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain health equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the target's hit point maximum is reduced by the same amount until it finishes a long rest. When you use your Bite, you can choose deal reduce the piercing damage dealt to 1. This attack has no effect on undead or constructs.
Misty Escape: When you've reached 9th level and you die outside your Resting place, you can cast Gaseous Form without expending a spell slot. You can't revert to your vampire form and you must reach your Resting place within 2 hours or be destroyed. Once in your Resting place, you revert to your vampire form. You are then Paralyzed until you regain at least 1 hit point. After spending 1 hour in your Resting place with 0 Hit Points, you regain 1 hit point. Your resting place is defined by having dirt from your site of turning. You can acquire a bag containing dirt which you can use to make any safe place your resting place, for example by putting it under your mattress or in a coffin. Doing so requires 10 minutes of concentration. You can have multiple resting places at once..


This race I just posted would never work for a PC, but should work fine as a starting off point for this thread.
Since what we're making is just a Dhampir we can remove the misty escape and most of the Vampire Magic. We'll leave Charm Person, however. Then we can take the Regeneration (it's a stupid trait anyways) and tweak some of the vampire weaknesses. Bear in mind, my only reference for a half-vampire is Blade (from the movies), so take this with a bucket of salt.

Vam. lol, get it. 'cause it's a half "vampire"
Ability score increases: Something something ability scores
Size: Medium
Speed: 30ft
Senses: Darkvision up to 30ft.
Born of Undeath: Your creature type is undead as well as humanoid. You have resistance to necrotic damage, are immune to disease and you don't need to breathe.
Vampire Tactics: You gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Stealth, Deception, Persuasion or Acrobatics.
Languages: Common, one other.
Not-Quite Spider Climb: You can climb difficult vertical surfaces without needing to make an ability check.
Sunlight Sensitivity: While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on Attack rolls and Ability Checks.
Diet Dependency: If you go for longer than 30 days without drinking at least one ration of blood, you suffer one level of exhaustion on the midnight of that day, which can only be removed by drinking a ration of blood. After consuming one ration of blood, you recover all levels of exhaustion.
Vampire Magic: When you reach 3rd level, you can cast Charm Person once, and it recharges after a long rest.
Vampire Bite: As an action, you can make a unarmed attack against one willing, paralyzed, charmed, incapacitated, restrained or grappled creature. The attack deals 1 piercing damage and necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain health equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the target's hit point maximum is reduced by the same amount until it finishes a long rest. This attack has no effect on undead or constructs.

There, that should do the trick. Like I said, I don't know the lore, so feel free to adjust the slider between human and vampire as needed.

You can have a lot of fun with the vampire magic feature. You could probably use the tiefling formula for vampire magic, being one spell at 3rd and one at 5th, each cast once per long rest as if cast with a 2nd level spell slot.
There are so many fitting enchantment spells out there, so you can basically take your pick from Friends, Charm Person, Command, Calm Emotions, Suggestion, Enthrall, Hold Person, Compulsion, Geas and Dominate Person. Just have fun with it. Remember, you are designing the race for use in your own game, not some-one else's.