Making Spellcaster Vampire More Spellcastery

[Sir_Elderberry]

Hi everyone! I don't have much experience DMing at higher levels of 5e, and am working on getting my BBEG from concept to paper since my campaign is, shockingly, lasting long enough to make it worth doing. The basic gist is that he's a centuries-old mage who survived being killed in an Archmage-succession-crisis/civil war by becoming a vampire, then got trapped in what was supposed to be his tomb for 500 years. The players have just released him unknowingly.

The MM has a pretty good statblock for this character: Spellcaster Vampire (MM298). However, a Spellcaster Vampire is only a 9th-level caster, and the spell list seems very themed around vampirism (lots of spooky clouds, mental effects, etc). Since I'd like something more like "a spellcaster who's been vampirized" than "a vampire that has a bit of spellcasting" I'm trying to think of the best way to build this guy. Some thoughts:


I could take Vampire Spellcaster and just replace the spell list, such as the spell list for the Archmage (MM) or something more custom.
I could also go the other way, taking the Archmage statblock and fusing in the Vampire traits, perhaps following the advice the DMG gives for vampirizing PCs and making sure to add in legendary actions/resistances.
I could take another archetypal undead caster -- the lich -- and use the statistics/spell list but replace the special actions and such with Vampire. (For thematic reasons, vampire works much better than lich for me in this campaign -- it's a story about exploitation rather than monomania.)


Has anyone built someone like this? Any pitfalls to watch out for in making such a creature?

[KOLE]

Are you expecting this to be the CR20 end-of-the-campaign BBEG-to-rule-all-BBEGs? What CR are you aiming for?

[Chaosmancer]

I would only be leery of the power level of the creature. Taking a full-fledged vampire and making it an archmage makes a creature that is a powerful caster and powerful melee opponent.

That's fine, especially for a BBEG, but it could quickly get into dangerous territory if your PCs are only mid-leveled.

Other than that, go forward and strike fear into them

[Sir_Elderberry]

Are you expecting this to be the CR20 end-of-the-campaign BBEG-to-rule-all-BBEGs? What CR are you aiming for?

Yes, this is the end of the campaign guy. So either CR20 or potentially a few notches down, like CR17-18, but with more help.

[Spectrulus]

Just take a Lich, swap the lich stuff for vampire stuff, put in whatever spells you want. I think it'll be the easiest for your DM homework.

[Chaosmancer]

Yes, this is the end of the campaign guy. So either CR20 or potentially a few notches down, like CR17-18, but with more help.

Then go to town, full spellcasting, wizard class abilities, custom spell list, vamp block and some fun extras just because.

I always prefer my final villains to have some flair to them.

[MrStabby]

So firstly... what type of spellcaster?

Are we talking a warlock who made a pact with a fiend for their soul then chose undeath to try and avoid upholding their end of the bargain?

Are we looking at a Vampire cleric to an ancient god who sought undeath to continue their worship long after all other worshippers had died?

Maybe we are looking at a vampire bard, someone too enraptured by the beauty of the world to let it go and who found a way to hang on in the world to compose their magnum opus?


I think a good starting point is to flesh out the character then to find the most archetypal spells for that role.

Also, do the PCs know who they are facing? It might be cool to drop some homebrew spells into the campaign setting: "X's spell of being nasty to PCs", even letting PCs lear these spells then revealing that they are actually to face X themselves.

[J-H]

My players (level 10) just faced down a ~200hp vampire enhanced with the abilities of an 11th-level Warlock (Hellish Rebuke, Synaptic Static, Mental Prison 1/day, Eldritch Blast). The first time, they lost a PC due to a small party and some bad choices. The second time (full party of 5) they wiped the floor by getting into melee with her. Vampire damage simply does not stand up to 4 attacks per round from a monk and two attacks per round from a GWM Zealot Barbarian, plus a Vengeance Paladin who joined in a bit later. And this was with two PCs distracted by stealing a genie's lamp from her and tanking 3 attacks/round from the genie....

1) Environment: No fights in open plains. No fights in tight spaces unless the party's movement is also constrained. Play him smart. Did he prepare Explosive Runes this morning?
2) Minions: Legendary actions aren't enough. Also - crowd control is great. Maybe he hits 3 of the 5 party members with Hold Person successfully. Now he's got exactly 2 attacks he can make (for a total of something like 30-35 points of damage unless buffed) before the next round comes around and they get de-held, while the other 2 party members are still beating on him. Crowd Control Mage only works if you have external sources of damage. Consider zombies, ghasts, ghouls, skeletal large beasts (Elephant? Dinosaur? Rhino?), elementals, maybe a Shield Guardian? Shield Guardian is actually a really good choice.
3) Defenses: Make LIBERAL use of Shield and Counterspell. Give him Mirror Image and maybe Blur and Death Ward.
4) Spell use: Consider giving him an extra reaction per round as a legendary action. He may have 21 spell slots per day, but he's still probably only up for 5 rounds of combat. Do everything possible to make sure he's running through at least two of those spell slots per round.
5) Hit points. If your party is like mine and can, with only 1 crit, dish out 200+ points of damage in a single round at level 10, some hit point inflation may be needed, unless you've got a good spell that lets him soak HP damage like a barbarian.
6) Mobility: Use it! Those spell slots are worth a lot less at range. If he's a mage, play him like a mage - he won't be using his claw or bite attack unless there are no other threats within 30-50' and/or his target is disabled.

[Sir_Elderberry]

So firstly... what type of spellcaster?

Sure! So he is a wizard; he was sort of the vice-Archmage, second in command to the big and basically Neutral Archmage who built an infrastructure of mages, organized them into a power structure, etc. The Archmage, however, frowned on necromancy and all contact with the Outer Planes, which started to chafe on the BBEG and led to simmering political conflict. Of course he starts to delve into those forbidden arts and making contact with devils, who identified him as an extremely high-potential target to get a new foothold on the Material Plane. When the Archmage vanished mysteriously, the other mages assumed BBEG had done it, killed him, and sealed up his tomb. He had some kind of contingency — haven’t decided whether this is insurance the fiends put in place or his own doing — but he underestimated his opponents, and didn’t anticipate the seal on his tomb. He’s been stuck there for a few centuries until the PCs just unknowingly let him out.

So: infernal themes, subterfuge, etc. since the Outer Planes were banned I would assume members of this order became especially skilled in elemental magic as well; that’s been the theme of some of the related dungeons.




Also, do the PCs know who they are facing? It might be cool to drop some homebrew spells into the campaign setting: "X's spell of being nasty to PCs", even letting PCs lear these spells then revealing that they are actually to face X themselves.

The PCs have seen his name in historical documents but don’t know that he’s still around, recently released, or their BBEG. I like this idea, however; as I said, he’s only recently been unleashed on the works, but the PCs were led to this storyline by the activities of the (somewhat) Evil Empire’s obsessive mage-archaeologists — so basically the Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Ark. it would make sense if they’d recovered some of his art.