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AWM
2008-10-30, 03:28 PM
I’m currently playing in a 3.5 homebrew world where my party and I come up against Vampires on a regular basis. We are a desperately under wealth group comprised of a sorc/monk, rogue, druid, and my cleric (all level 6 as of tonight’s coming session).

Our party keeps getting slammed (pun intended) by these vampire encounters, I’m posting this to get some advice in battling Nosferatu. We’re running in 3.5 core only (unless the DM arbitrarily chooses to throw non core 3 creatures at us). Core battle tactics/spells would be greatly welcomed.



also


Below is a spell I’m having my cleric work on creating, I’d appreciate some (constructive) feedback.






Track Vampire
Clr 2
Components: V,S,F
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Singular target within sight
Area: 1 mile (+1/2 mile/3 levels)
Duration: 24 hours (until next sunrise)
Save: None
Spell Resistance: Yes


The target Vampire is marked by a phantasmal animal. If the marked target Vampire is destroyed (in a manner which causes the Vampire to regenerate within its coffin) while marked the Phantom animal is able to discern the location of the target’s coffin (after 10 minutes of the target being destroyed). If the phantom animal is not triggered within 5 minutes + 1 minute per caster level after casting, the spell dissipates.

The phantasmal animal is able to lead the caster to the target’s coffin upon command. The Phantasmal animal is visible only to the caster and one person per 3 caster levels which must be declared at the time of casting (and be within line of sight). Only the caster can command the Phantom. The phantom travels at a maximum speed of 200 feet per round. The Phantom has no physical form and may not engage in combat. The phantom cannot travel through solid objects, but can squeeze through cracks and other small openings. If the Phantom is unable to reach close {touchable} proximity of the target vampire it will travel to the next closest location. The phantom is incapable of communicating other than mimicking physical movements of the animal it is in the form of.

The Phantom will stay visible until the duration of the spell expires or the target vampire is slain in such a manner that it is truly destroyed.

Focus: a small pouch of animal bones





thanks for reading:smallbiggrin:

-awm

Starbuck_II
2008-10-30, 03:58 PM
I’m currently playing in a 3.5 homebrew world where my party and I come up against Vampires on a regular basis. We are a desperately under wealth group comprised of a sorc/monk, rogue, druid, and my cleric (all level 6 as of tonight’s coming session).

Our party keeps getting slammed (pun intended) by these vampire encounters, I’m posting this to get some advice in battling Nosferatu. We’re running in 3.5 core only (unless the DM arbitrarily chooses to throw non core 3 creatures at us). Core battle tactics/spells would be greatly welcomed.
-awm

Decantor of Endless Waste?
That would count as flowing water. Vamps can't cross flowing water.

Hold Undead (if fail save and stake him).

Does you Cleric have Sun Domains: Greater turning? That utterly destroys a Vamp.

hamishspence
2008-10-30, 04:08 PM
Well, there is the Munchkin game system suggestion- Must hit and do damage with wooden piercing weapon (can be wooden shafted ordinary weapon like spear or arrow) and, when hit roll is rolled, it must hit AC modified for 3 sizes smaller- the heart. I assume must be more damage than the creature's damage reduction, unless tip is magic and silver.

So an AC 14 Medium vampire, hit with a roll that would hit AC18, would die.

It also warned, if you do it this way, kobolds will consider vampires a laughingstock, and you can't use these rules to hit normal creatures' hearts Because, er, The Rules Say So.

arguskos
2008-10-30, 04:13 PM
1. Get a repeating crossbow. Replace all your shots with miniature wooden stakes that you coat in silver, and then dipped in holy water. If you see a group of vampires, open up on them. Give the whole party one of these.

2. Do you have an arcane caster-type? Does he have fire spells? If yes to both, create potions grenades of fire spells, and use them liberally on said vampires.

3. Find the vampires coffins. Steal them. Toss them into a bag of holding/portable hole. Vampires cannot reach their coffin if it's not on the same plane as they are, so all you have to do is kill them, and *poof*! They are stuck in gaseous form forever.

-argus

Ravens_cry
2008-10-30, 04:14 PM
Do arrows count as stakes? What if you took the heads off and sharpened the shafts?
Holy Water Hand Grenades are nice. (just flasks of Holy Water, but that is how everyone uses them)
See if you can combine Bless Water, and Decanter of Endless Water, certainly would make things. . .interesting.
Also, would drinking only holy water for a few weeks make your blood holy?
And what effect would eating lots of Garlic have? Besides driving all your companions away, that is.

hamishspence
2008-10-30, 04:18 PM
point being made is there is no rules for Targeting Hearts. and it doesn't say exactly how to stake a vampire in coffin. Though, I'd go: "Its in coffin. It can't move. You have stakes. One round later, Its Dead."

arguskos
2008-10-30, 04:22 PM
On another note, the rules in D&D are... unpleasantly incomplete when it comes to killing vampires. Yes, you can stake it. However, it doesn't stay dead unless the stake remains in it. See, if you remove it, the whole "it is in it's coffin, lol regen" thing comes into effect, and it comes back. Best way to solve vampires?

1. Kill one.
2. Stake it in the coffin.
3. Line the coffin in lead (prevents gaseous form, IIRC).
4. Sink the coffin into a stone block (with stone shape or something).
5. Teleport the stone block into deep space.

This is the only, really, REALLY reliable way my group has ever found to getting rid of vampires for good. *sigh* I hate vampires.

-argus

hamishspence
2008-10-30, 04:45 PM
Destroy the body and head while still staked works by MM- "fill mouth with holy wafers"

Vampire lords are much worse, but were online, 3.0, and, I think, homebrew posted on WoTC site.

Blackfang108
2008-10-30, 04:49 PM
Cut off it's head, stick a lemon in it's mouth, and hammer a carrot through each ear.

Or you could kill it with butterflies.

Don't ask.

Zenos
2008-10-30, 04:50 PM
Stake it to the coffin and bring it out into the dawn.

Ravens_cry
2008-10-30, 04:52 PM
Cut off it's head, stick a lemon in it's mouth, and hammer a carrot through each ear.

Or you could kill it with butterflies.

Don't ask.
Is that a reference to the recent and rather Fan-Disservice Atland comic?

Tsotha-lanti
2008-10-30, 04:55 PM
On another note, the rules in D&D are... unpleasantly incomplete when it comes to killing vampires. Yes, you can stake it. However, it doesn't stay dead unless the stake remains in it. See, if you remove it, the whole "it is in it's coffin, lol regen" thing comes into effect, and it comes back.

Eh?

Quoth the SRD:

Driving a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart instantly slays the monster. However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the body is destroyed. A popular tactic is to cut off the creature’s head and fill its mouth with holy wafers (or their equivalent).

Stake it, burn it. Stake it, decapitate it. Stake it, expose it to sunlight. Stake it, drop it in a pool of holy water. And so on, and so on.

My favorite is, of course, destroying the freaking coffin. Much easier than killing the vampire.

SRD again:

It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed.

A smart or powerful vampire will have multiple coffins, so tracking magic is useful. Once you've got it in gaseous form, you just keep tracking it and destroying the coffins. It takes hours of coffin-rest for the thing to get better. If you have detection spells and teleport, it's doomed.

AslanCross
2008-10-30, 05:00 PM
Cut off it's head, stick a lemon in it's mouth, and hammer a carrot through each ear.

Or you could kill it with butterflies.

Don't ask.

The cleric in my group RPs her Turn Undead as "a white-and-lilac burst of energy with hearts and flowers."

hamishspence
2008-10-30, 05:06 PM
lemons and carrots are references to Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, I think.

lord_khaine
2008-10-30, 05:14 PM
sounds like that, it made fun of vampires, by saying that how to kill them dependet on what region of the country they came from, as each region had its own sub-specie of vampires, with completely different weaknesses.

with one of them, as i recall, you had to stuff a lemon in its mouth, cut off the head and then boil it.

hamishspence
2008-10-30, 05:18 PM
I thought it wans't the vampires that were different, it was the cultures that differed on how to kill or inconvenience them.

WitchSlayer
2008-10-30, 05:50 PM
Homebrew a special item: Decanter of endless holy water. Have an arcane caster create a Warforged and have him insert three decanters in each hand and 3 in each foot. Congratulations, you've just invented the ultimate Vampire Killing tool, also great for gardening.

Bayar
2008-10-30, 06:01 PM
point being made is there is no rules for Targeting Hearts. and it doesn't say exactly how to stake a vampire in coffin. Though, I'd go: "Its in coffin. It can't move. You have stakes. One round later, Its Dead."

Think it is called "Coup de grace"...

Doomsy
2008-10-30, 06:37 PM
Kill every human being within a hundred miles, or as many as you can, then set up the rest in a trapped location. Vampires are parasites. They need blood. Make the addiction work for you. They get desperate, they get hungry, they get dumb.

Or do the good-aligned, reasonable suggestions above from other posters. D&D vampires are kind of a pain but they are doable and most are unlikely to be as prepared as the most worst-case scenarios here will paint - dependent on personality. Fact is, a truly paranoid vampire lord would be desperately trying to figure out a way to survive without blood while taking as few people as he could to avoid attention, and he would practically be invisible on the players radar. If you're dealing with the Lord of the Night type you're talking egos the size of Gothic Bavarian castles. They don't plan for worst case scenarios because they are idiots.

Me, I like depopulating and then making them kill each other in brutal combat for pints of blood before double crossing them for laughs. I hates vampires, yes I do.

Ravens_cry
2008-10-30, 07:05 PM
Homebrew a special item: Decanter of endless holy water. Have an arcane caster create a Warforged and have him insert three decanters in each hand and 3 in each foot. Congratulations, you've just invented the ultimate Vampire Killing tool, also great for gardening.
Nice, real nice, however. . .

We are a desperately under wealth group comprised of a sorc/monk, rogue, druid, and my cleric (all level 6 as of tonight’s coming session
No numbers are given, but your idea sounds a bit out of the characters reach.
I like the Decanters of Holy Water idea though. To make it cheaper, maybe it only Holy Waters so many rounds per day.
Still, as a Holy Super Soaker, the idea sounds radical.:smallcool:

streakster
2008-10-30, 07:13 PM
Vampires a problem? Completely ignore them! Don't go out at night - spend it huddled in a church. Go adventuring during the day.

Copacetic
2008-10-30, 07:25 PM
Hide veryone in the surroding area; give them holy symbols, whatever, just make sure vampres can't get to them. Then set up a trap; A pint of Blood, when touched, will cause holy symbols to pop up alll around it. It will be forced to stand still, and you can leave it till dawn. Maybe use it for target pratice.

_Puppetmaster_
2008-10-30, 07:32 PM
By RAW, holy water is lighter than air, so pool your money to buy a blimp and enough holy water to fill it. Then rain fire and wooden-stake arrows from the blimp. If they shoot ti down, they are covered in LOTS of holy water.


Other than that, I second the decanters of endless water and destroying the coffins.

Ravens_cry
2008-10-30, 07:46 PM
By RAW, holy water is lighter than air, so pool your money to buy a blimp and enough holy water to fill it. Then rain fire and wooden-stake arrows from the blimp. If they shoot ti down, they are covered in LOTS of holy water.


Other than that, I second the decanters of endless water and destroying the coffins.

How about filling the coffin with holy water? Like a vampire version of the old 'fill the car with water' prank. Or, with just an ordinary decanter of endless water, drill a hole in the coffin, fill it up by putting the decanter into the hole, and sealing any leaks, then drill another hole to let the water out. The water now counts as flowing,and if the vampire in gas form gets in,(he is more likely to notice if he is corporeal, but it would delay him) he is immersed in flowing water. Killed in such away, he is killed DEAD.

Glimbur
2008-10-30, 08:33 PM
I like the Decanters of Holy Water idea though. To make it cheaper, maybe it only Holy Waters so many rounds per day.
Still, as a Holy Super Soaker, the idea sounds radical.:smallcool:

The most stylish way to do it is to enchant the Decanter to continually cast Bless Water... as long as you feed it powdered silver. That way you have to plan ahead for its use but don't have to carry gallons of water everywhere. Not that all that silver is much lighter...

Thurbane
2008-10-30, 09:30 PM
Hire out a bunch of blind commoners to surround you brandishing LG holy symbols. Since they're blind, no charm gaze. :smalltongue:

Collin152
2008-10-30, 09:49 PM
Hire out a bunch of blind commoners to surround you brandishing LG holy symbols. Since they're blind, no charm gaze. :smalltongue:

Better yet, Create a bunch of blind commoners, and promise to restore their sight when you're done!

Ganurath
2008-10-30, 10:51 PM
Tell the people to bar their windows and stay indoors at night. This means the only place with living humanoids to feed upon will be the local tavern, which can only be accessed through the front door since that's the only public part other than the hallway... Unless said hallway has a window at the end, but that can be addressed by setting up some sort of water drip on the inside of the window with a mini-gutter along the base. Remember, vampires can't cross running water or go on private property without permission.

Either you or the druid will be the bait, depending on which of you has a better Will save. Personally, I favor the Druid, since even if the save is failed you can have Dispel Magic prepared to break the charm. You will do this from inside the tavern's open door. If the vampire pursues you, the sorc will be standing by with magical violence while the rogue attacks with weapons "poisoned" with holy water. If the vampire chooses to stay on the druid, or the druid makes their saving throw, they'll turn into something big and grappley while you provide restorative magic and the sorc provides buff support.

After taking the vampire down in such a manner, but before you make is gaseous, cast Track Vampire. Since it's a custom spell, even the best Spellcraft check wouldn't identify what it does. Use the phantasmal animal with local maps to pinpoint the vampire's location. The following evening, the druid will have performed a stakeout in hiding, continually making a ready action to wildshape into the form of an animal that fits in at the lair. Once the vampire is back in the village, the three of you can use similiar bait tactics (straight to the open door) that starts with the sorc using (a scroll of, if needed) Whispering Wind to tell the druid to destroy the coffin.

Haikiah
2008-10-30, 11:01 PM
Better yet, Create a bunch of blind commoners, and promise to restore their sight when you're done!

But that would be lying, and therefore IMMORAL. Promise nothing. Instead, constantly make jokes to lift their spirits.

"Well would you look at that..."
"See that tree right there?"
"I don't like the look of this guy... what do you think?"
"Watch out for that pit just ahead."

The fun never ends!

And as for my potential vampire solution idea...
Anyone who dies should be staked, have their head chopped off, and then be exposed to sunlight. Remains then may be cremated. Get people into the habit of doing this. Eventually coffins are no longer in use, thus meaning anyone who has one is probably a vampire.

Depending on your vampire type, may or may not work, but certainly would be fun.

Play cruel pranks on them for your own amusement. (Coffin, with the bottom lined with stakes, either hidden with illusion, or retractable = FUN!)

Leewei
2008-10-30, 11:46 PM
I too have been plagued by these pesky dead things in a game where I was playing a Druid (with an 18 Intelligence, and played as best I could with this in mind). I had hit level 13 and was starting to enjoy spells such as control wind and wind walk. I had ready access to death ward and used it liberally.

I will start by observing that my companions typically had little problem dispatching these undead parasites once properly engaged. The real issue was that they annoyingly turned into a nigh-indestructible variant of gaseous form when dispatched, and also tended to show up later in greater numbers or with actual tactical control over the situation. Bad news, indeed.

In the end, finding the coffins proved difficult, and only when we'd fought into their lair quite some ways were we able to locate their resting places. Until then, we focused our efforts into two fairly fruitful avenues:

1. Kill them instantly whenever possible using effects such as sunbeam or sunburst. I imagine Greater Turning or the like would also yield satisfying results if augmented properly. Anything granting a bonus to Charisma checks, such as good hope or prayer will aid you in overcoming Vampires' troubling Turn Resistance.

2. Exploit the limitations of gaseous form against the Vampires. Remember, they're trapped in this form until they have rested up in their coffins, and die if they are unable to return. Gasses are easily manipulated by spells such as control wind. Whip up a continuous 30mph gust to push their vaporous bodies about and keep them from fleeing. Alternately, recall that gaseous form does not allow entry into water, and indeed causes the creature under that effect to bubble up. Simply flooding the area with their coffins with any amount of water will provide a happily lethal impediment. Transmute rock to mud to fill a corridor and seal off escape. Lastly, regardless of form, Vampires cannot enter a room smelling strongly of garlic. If fighting in a complex make sure to burst several bulbs of this wondrous herb as you go. If you manage to outflank these vile undead, they will be unable to retreat, even when reduced to their wispy state.

Leewei
2008-10-30, 11:52 PM
Ah, the dominate person nuisance. A widened magic circle against evil is marvelous against this, since it precludes ongoing forms of mental control. Magics that cause you to no longer be Humanoid also, by extension, grant immunity. Polymorph is a classic example of this. More refined techniques may be dweomers like as the frost. The aforementioned magic circle is my own preference since it also wards off summoned bats, rats and wolves, and grants other minor benefits. Plus, at 10 minutes per level, it lasts reasonably long.

hamishspence
2008-10-31, 10:48 AM
Coup de grace says "You inflict a critical hit." As undead, vampires are immune to critical hits.

Blackfang108
2008-10-31, 10:56 AM
Is that a reference to the recent and rather Fan-Disservice Atland comic?

As I've never heard of Atland, no.

The first part is a refrence to Terry Pratchett.

The second part is a real, in-game, way I sent a Vampire to Gaseous form.

The Prime plane I'm on is falling apart.

I cast Chain Lightning at one, with 3 more in range.

The DM rolled the percentile dice, and it worked as intended, but had a different effect. A cloud of butterflies covered the area, and disappeared.

At CL 20, I sent two of them to gaseous form. With Butterflies.

Considering my character JUST qualifies as CN instead of CE(I do too many good things to be Evil, even if I use Evil Spells), we were laughing a lot.

Muz
2008-10-31, 10:57 AM
Throw a brass dragon at the vamp to soften it up, then converge upon it with a multi-national force consisting of elves, humans, and wakizashi-wielding gnomes wearing fezzes until it flees to its coffin, follow it to the coffin in wraithform, stake it, cut its head off, then set it on fire with a little fire-breathing dragon statue.

See? Simple! :smallbiggrin:

(And then you start your quest to find the little girl the vampire turned and find a way to cure her before she eats any more people in a back alley. Problems include FINDING said little girl and dealing with the doll golem she carries with her.)

AWM
2008-10-31, 02:54 PM
Thanks for the input thus far.


Here is some more information on the current setting.


Currently there is an army of undead advancing on civilization from the north, the herald for this armada of the soulless is an obscuring blanket of clouds which blocks out all sunlight. Monsters that were merely the stuff of campfire tales told to amuse are now roaming the countryside in great numbers (or at least encountering my party as if they are).

My companions and I have been charged with tracing down a set of incredibly powerful magical artifacts, some of which the commander of the undead army possesses. We now find ourselves behind enemy lines in pursuit of one of these artifacts. On a frustratingly regular basis my party encounters vampires sent by the undead leader to thwart our efforts. Each battle with them becomes more perilous (they somehow are everywhere, and always know where we are going next.) nothing we do seems to slay them for any lengthy amount of time.

I’m basically looking for any and all advice pertaining to dealing with them in close combat. My cleric tries his best to turn them, but often they are more HD than he can handle. Burning spells for healing touch attacks still affords them a saving throw, and my cleric has a dex of 10 so any sort of spell with a ranged touch just isn’t worth the gamble of a miss.

The suggestions of holy water I’m going to think about and try to implement. I’m not sure how effective garlic will be, but I’ll give that a shot too the next time it becomes available. The major problem we have as a party is tracking down the vampire’s coffin after it is slain, as far as that goes I’m happy to report that my DM “okayed” my spell and is allowing it in play.


-awm


PS last night for once there wasn’t a single vampire encounter! We did however come up against a clay golem (CR 10). Thanks DM!

PPS

Our Druid had to leave the game due to work schedule conflicts, we are now a party of 3 at 6th level . . . . and yes we fought a CR 10 monster (and lived to tell the tale)

mangosta71
2008-10-31, 03:07 PM
I had a memorable campaign in which we were playing an evil party. The cleric successfully rebuked the vampire and commanded him to get into a bag of holding. We then walked to a river, put the bag under, and opened it.

Tsotha-lanti
2008-10-31, 03:10 PM
Your problem, clearly, is that you are being reactive/passive rather than proactive. You need to go on the offense, track down the vampires, and start eliminating them. Vampires are really easy to kill permanently - just destroy their coffins. Expose them to sunlight. Dragging their coffins out into the sun after the vampires, at 0 hp, have fled into them, is a favorite. That will kill them permanently, unless your DM is changing the rules.

Warning: they will try a lot harder to kill you once you start doing this.

hamishspence
2008-10-31, 03:15 PM
for the DM whose players start doing this, break out the world-spanning Vampire organization with tentacles in most levels of society.

Maybe give it something interesting to distinguish it from The Camarilla and other fictional secret vampire societies.

AWM
2008-10-31, 03:36 PM
Your problem, clearly, is that you are being reactive/passive rather than proactive. You need to go on the offense, track down the vampires, and start eliminating them. Vampires are really easy to kill permanently - just destroy their coffins. Expose them to sunlight. Dragging their coffins out into the sun after the vampires, at 0 hp, have fled into them, is a favorite. That will kill them permanently, unless your DM is changing the rules.

Warning: they will try a lot harder to kill you once you start doing this.


Well there is no sunlight to drag the coffins out into, also how would you go about tracking down the coffins in the first place? Locate object? The homebrew spell of mine is the first step towards our party going on the offensive. Now all we need is for the DM to let us off his railroad tacks and give us some time to hunt the bastards down. Which he may or may not do.



-awm

Tsotha-lanti
2008-10-31, 03:48 PM
Legwork is good. Gather Information, spying, shadowing - find out where the vampire lair is. Break in during the day, preferrably (in most traditions, vampires have to rest in their coffins between sunup and sundown) - kill the guards, avoid the traps, search the place scrupulously until you find the coffins.

Sunlight isn't really necessary - fire will work just as well, or better. Just smashing/burning the coffins and reducing the vampires to 0 hit points will suffice, too - they'll cease to exist in 2 hours if they have no access to their coffin. (Note that it's usually not "a coffin," but "his/her coffin"; commonly, the vampire must rest in a coffin with dirt from their grave or something similar, so just any wooden box won't do.)

If they're part of a moving army, you're probably dealing with a fairly small area (vampires have really poor range), and since the lair is probably moved with the army, it won't be that well-fortified. In fact, it may be that the guards will be the biggest problem you'll face.

Gaseous form speed, incidentally, is 10 feet. You can outpace them easily, just make sure they don't lose you. Spells are a huge help there. The vampire doesn't have the option of just waiting you out - it's only got two hours to get to the coffin once you've knocked it to 0 hit points.

If your DM sucks, there's nothing you can do, though. Good luck, and I hope you switch DMs soon.

Relatedly, be sure to make Knowledge (religion) checks to get accurate info on vampires from your DM - stuff like whether they must rest days in coffins, whether they can use any old wooden box as a coffin, etc.

Moriato
2008-10-31, 04:27 PM
I've always loved this sword:


Sun Blade: This sword is the size of a bastard sword. However, a sun blade is wielded as if it were a short sword with respect to weight and ease of use. (In other words, the weapon appears to all viewers to be a bastard sword, and deals bastard sword damage, but the wielder feels and reacts as if the weapon were a short sword.) Any individual able to use either a bastard sword or a short sword with proficiency is proficient in the use of a sun blade. Likewise, Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization in short sword and bastard sword apply equally, but the benefits of those feats do not stack.

In normal combat, the glowing golden blade of the weapon is equal to a +2 bastard sword. Against evil creatures, its enhancement bonus is +4. Against Negative Energy Plane creatures or undead creatures, the sword deals double damage (and x3 on a critical hit instead of the usual x2).

The blade also has a special sunlight power. Once per day, the wielder can swing the blade vigorously above her head while speaking a command word. The sunblade then sheds a bright yellow radiance that is like full daylight. The radiance begins shining in a 10-foot radius around the sword wielder and extends outward at 5 feet per round for 10 rounds thereafter, to create a globe of light with a 60-foot radius. When the wielder stops swinging, the radiance fades to a dim glow that persists for another minute before disappearing entirely. All sun blades are of good alignment, and any evil creature attempting to wield one gains one negative level. The negative level remains as long as the sword is in hand and disappears when the sword is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the sword is wielded.


Any casters you have should have recently gained access to 3rd level spells. Wind wall is good for blocking exits, as gaseous creatures can't pass through it

hamishspence
2008-10-31, 04:54 PM
note FAQ has said "like full daylight" is not enough for vampire-slaying in direct sunlight purposes"

A vampire can walk around in the day, as long as direct sunlight does not hit it. in a well lit room that keeps any direct suns rays more than six feet up, say.

It does count for creatures harmed by daylight, but not specifically direct sunlight- orcs, drow.

Moriato
2008-10-31, 05:00 PM
note FAQ has said "like full daylight" is not enough for vampire-slaying in direct sunlight purposes"

A vampire can walk around in the day, as long as direct sunlight does not hit it. in a well lit room that keeps any direct suns rays more than six feet up, say.

It does count for creatures harmed by daylight, but not specifically direct sunlight- orcs, drow.

True, like the daylight spell, but it's still +4 and double damage against undead, X3 crit if you have some way of critting undead, and can be used with weapon finesse.

Leewei
2008-10-31, 08:56 PM
6th level party? Ouch. Fortunately, you'll level up very fast against those encounters. Er, if the level draining slam attacks don't get you first.

Positive energy (i.e. Conjuration [healing]) is the best weapon in your arsenal, currently. If you have any wizard-types, greater magic weapon on silvered weapons isn't a bad thing if you lack proper vampire-killing gear. Without death ward, it's just a matter of time before someone gets drained. Nonetheless, optimize for high AC and toss in blur or similar effects to grant miss chances to the bad guys.

If you have a sneaky-type, look into feats and abilities that allow Sneak Attack to function against undead. A few Sneak Attacks with hurled vials of holy water is epic to behold.

Finally, boost Fortitude saves in any way possible. Cloak of Resistance and Amulet of Health could save you the pain of having a drain become a permanent thing.