help fighting a vampire

[TGWG]

ok, the party that I belong to is in the middle of an encounter when we had to leave because it was getting late. We were about to leave when the DM hinted heavily that we were about to face a powerful vampire with blood-drinker levels. our party consists of a Barb5/Monk2 barbarian who specializes in grapple, a Lev6 halfling TWF rogue, a spring attacking lev7 Monk, a long range lev7 ranger, a half-celestial Bard1/Ranger1, a Lev7 dwarf wizard who's low on spells and if we're lucky a fresh lev7 gnome druid with a dire wolf compantion who's realitivly new to the game.

I suspect that the vampire has prepared deaper darkness, none of the party has any garlic on them, we can't go back to town to buy supplies, we're no where near a running body of water, and we don't know if anyone else is with the vampire.

any ideas on how to kill the vampire (temporarily) without anyone in the party dying

P.S. don't worry the DM doesn't go to this site, and even if he had it comming for pratically telling us what we were about to face.

[Forrestfire]

do you have a decanter of endless water? if you do, you could ask the DM if that counts as running water.

[Sornjss Lichdom]

two words HOLY WATER. works every time. if not just make sure your cleric doesnt waist turn attempts.

[Craig1f]

Death Ward
Holy Water
Daylight

[TGWG]

Death ward = lev5 spell, druid can only cast lev4
daylight = pretty sure he has deeper darkness, will a dispel work against it
holywater = don't have a cleric
decanter of endless water = no we don't have one, but if we did I sure would ask. thank you though, I'll make sure to think of that next time, if there is a next time.

should I convince the Druid to switch her proto character to cleric? the druid works beter for our party though.

[Xefas]

First thing's first. If your wizard has time to get full up on spells, that'll put you in a better position.

So, if someone has an item of, or can cast, Rope Trick, with a high enough duration, then do that and let him regain his spells.

If you don't, pitch a tent, have everyone huddle inside, and when the vampire shows up, tell him that it's your clubhouse and there's no girls allowed. Hope your DM has a brainfart and accepts this as a viable defense. Alternatively, make a makeshift tent out of bedrolls or something.

If that doesn't work (and it probably won't), then just make sure the Half-Celestial uses his Protection from Evil spell-like on everyone with a low will save. It will make you immune to his domination gaze, and Half-Celestials get it 3/day automatically.

[Tyger]

No one has a holy symbol to hold it at bay? Dang!

But good old fashioned bashing works too. You just have to get past his DR (which is impressive) while not letting him hit you.

The biggest problem, in my experience, with fighting vamps is that you can't actually kill them without finding that coffin. And even if you can drive him off with a boat load of damage, he'll gaseous form on you and be back in minutes, fully healed and ready to go to town. So once he's down - find that coffin and finish the job. Nasty buggers.

[TGWG]

can he be sneak attacked. I know he's undead but nothing in his discription says he can't. (like undead/construct characteristics). is it assumed?

[Tyger]

can he be sneak attacked. I know he's undead but nothing in his discription says he can't. (like undead/construct characteristics). is it assumed?

No, he can not be SA'd, as he is undead. By default all undead are immune to critical hits, and thus also to Sneak Attack damage.

[WrstDmEvr]

Death ward = lev5 spell, druid can only cast lev4
daylight = pretty sure he has deeper darkness, will a dispel work against it
holywater = don't have a cleric
decanter of endless water = no we don't have one, but if we did I sure would ask. thank you though, I'll make sure to think of that next time, if there is a next time.

should I convince the Druid to switch her proto character to cleric? the druid works beter for our party though.

Emphasis added.

Daylight counters or dispels any darkness spell of equal or lower level

So, just cast it after he casts deeper darkeness and then you win.

[TGWG]

Daylight brought into an area of deeper darkness (or vice versa) is temporarily negated, so that the otherwise prevailing light conditions exist in the overlapping areas of effect

uh-hmm? is that so

[Renegade Paladin]

uh-hmm? is that so

That is indeed so. And no one has a holy symbol of any kind?

[Grynning]

I noticed the Rogue is only level 6, and the rest of the party is level 7. Go find something to kill, get him to the same level as the party, and have him take his next level in cleric. Gravestrike is a first level spell, which lets him sneak attack undead for a round. He can turn, and make holy water. This will even the odds significantly.

Edit: If you have no choice but to fight right away, have some kind of exit strategy, as Daggaz states below.
Wooden stakes are easy to come by - hell, you can make one out of just about any quantity of wood, including weapon hafts if you can't find anything else. you should try to set up some kind of ambush or have someone attack from hiding with one, preferably with true strike or some other significant attack buff on. This will at least put the sucker down and you can drag it's body out to the sunlight for a permanent solution.

[daggaz]

My experience with vamps is, the biggest problem is its level drain ability.

All it has to do is hit you...melee is ultra risky, grappling is certainly out. It will kill you with level drain before it ever does it thru HP damage, for most higher HP characters..

Too bad you have no way to keep it at bay. Holy symbols are wonderful for this.. Running water... a place of residence... garlic...

If you dont have any of these, I highly suggest you RUN AWAY. Come back when you are prepared for this special monster and its special abilities.

[Mewtarthio]

So, just cast it after he casts deeper darkeness and then you win.

Daylight can't kill vampires. Only natural sunlight can do that. Granted, if he's stupid enough to attack you outside during the daytime, with only deeper darkness standing between him and annihilation, then use the "temporary negation" clause of daylight to make the prevailing light conditions (natural sunlight) take hold in his space.

[tyckspoon]

Unless you've got some silver weapons around, I'm guessing you're boned. You've got a lot of poorly-optimized melee characters facing off with something that has both Fast Healing and DR that you apparently aren't equipped to pierce. My suggestion: Run the heck away. Get the druid to prepare obstructing spells like Fog Cloud and Entangle; run away while casting them. If the Wizard has any similar spells left available (Glitterdust, Web?) cast those too while running away. The vampire could get through them by turning gaseous, but that drops his move speed so you can gain ground and makes him stoppable by Gust of Wind or Wind Wall.

If you are forced to fight, you're going to be relying heavily on your casters to provide damage (although it may not be enough; it sounds like this vampire is probably going to have more HD than your party's average.) Look for the most energy damage you can cause in the shortest time. Flame Strike would be the Druid's best option, and Scorching Ray for the Wizard (two rays at level 7 gets 8d6 if both hit.) Get Flame Arrow cast on the Ranger's arrows (in fact, cast it on the ammunition of as many party members as you can manage. Those 1d6s may be small, but they'll probably be your non-spellcasters' best chance of adding damage.) They're long odds, but if your Wizard has Halt Undead or Command Undead a successful cast could end the fight (Command) or give you a decisive advantage (Halt). Or, if you can get a day to rest and recover, the Wizard could craft an Explosive Runes bomb. Cast as many Explosive Runes as you can on something, get the Vampire to read it- 12d6 or more no-save force damage would be a very nice way to open the battle.

I also like Xefas's suggestion. Find something you can reasonably claim is a home, hole up inside it, and refuse the vampire entry. Ideally that would be an actual building; the vampire could still attack your shelter, and a tent would not last long under the assault of the vampire and any wolves he might call.

If the vampire casts Deeper Darkness, let it be: It's of more benefit to you than him. Shadowy Illumination doesn't actually prevent sight, but it does give everybody in it concealment (and therefore a miss chance. You want the miss chance.) There are more of you than there are of the vampire, so it doesn't hurt quite so much if you miss an attack against the vampire due to the miss chance. It is however very good for you if the vampire misses an attack thanks to it- your group can't stand up to very many energy drains (and your half-celestial will be instantly killed by one.)

[Bag_of_Holding]

While a vampire can never enter a dwelling or a building without the permission from a person of authority, that doesn't prevent one from burning or otherwise laying waste on the area. So, beware.

[Grynning]

After considering it more, I am personally leaning more towards the wooden stake option - it's an insta-gib, which will be much more effective than trying to whittle it down with damage. Arm all of the melee'ers with wooden poles with the ends sharpened to points - essentially improvised long spears that would count as wooden stakes. Surround the beastie, and make called shots to the heart from reach, taking movement as necessary to stay out of it's reach. Depending on how your DM interprets a "Wooden Stake", the ranger could also make arrows with sharpened wood points with little effort and shoot them at the heart from range.

[AslanCross]

Do you have crossbows or bows? By RAW, any sharp wooden object can kill a vampire when hit through the heart. Break off the metal heads and use the sharpened shaft to shoot him. Talk to your DM about this.

Of course, if I were your DM I'd rule that this tactic would only work if you actually rolled a natural 20. (Even if the Vampire is normally immune to crits)

Removing the stake will bring the vampire instantly back to life.

[Mewtarthio]

There are no rules for staking vampires. I'm fairly certain that's only meant to be used in case of a coup de grace attack on a vampire's helpless form in a coffin.

[AslanCross]

True, the RAW only says that driving a stake through the vampire's heart is fatal. It's not specific about whether this can only be done as a coup-de-grace or as a regular attack. I'd say it can be done either way, but the coup-de-grace is a sure way of doing it.

[Grynning]

From the SRD:

Slaying a Vampire

Reducing a vampire’s hit points to 0 or lower incapacitates it but doesn’t always destroy it (see the note on fast healing). However, certain attacks can slay vampires. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it: It can take only a single move action or attack action and is destroyed utterly in the next round if it cannot escape. Similarly, immersing a vampire in running water robs it of one-third of its hit points each round until it is destroyed at the end of the third round of immersion. 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).

Seems like the way the stake gets into the heart doesn't matter.

[tyckspoon]

From the SRD:
Seems like the way the stake gets into the heart doesn't matter.

No, but D&D lacks any rules for location-specific damage. You can say 'I try to jab the stake into its heart', but its all up to the DM how that works. The closest thing to an official rule for it is the coup-de-grace/striking at an object rules that let you use a full-round action to guarantee a hit on something.

[Grynning]

I could have sworn there were rules for called shots in the DMG...can't seem to find it, though.
Anyways, I suppose you could treat the vampire's heart as a Tiny worn object with concealment (being inside the body cavity and all). That would make it very hard to hit, but it's do-able.

[Ditto]

Technically, the druid's holly is his holy symbol. Get everyone in the corner behind him, and you can keep the vampire at bay by swinging the mistletoe at him as a standard action each round. I'm sure he'll get tired and go away to eat something that isn't quite as pansy-tastic.

[Xefas]

I could have sworn there were rules for called shots in the DMG...can't seem to find it, though.
Anyways, I suppose you could treat the vampire's heart as a Tiny worn object with concealment (being inside the body cavity and all). That would make it very hard to hit, but it's do-able.

Called Shots are from Neverwinter Nights or 2nd edition.

Also, that's begging to be abused. Sure, a stake through the heart kills a vampire...but it kills everyone else too. Forever after, the PCs would be trying to sunder the hearts of every humanoid being in the game.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

That's when heart-to-stone becomes useful. Also, talk to your DM about a called shots mechanic, see what he says, and do it before the next session so that he has time to think. Also, if you could tell us what you spellcasters have prepared, we could do a lot more to help you, some combos are hard to spot but devastating.

[Grynning]

Good point - of course, D&D doesn't really have good mechanics for representing the multitude of relatively easy ways to kill a humanoid, they are purposely avoided except for Sneak Attack and Death Attack and their derivatives (no one wants characters dropping dead from blood loss when an arrow nicks an artery, after all). Also, if the Vampire was wearing any sort of chest armor this would likely not work, wooden weapons would be nigh useless for piercing armor.

[Mewtarthio]

Chest armor? Like, say, a ribcage?

[Grynning]

I think history has demonstrated that the rib cage alone is pretty ineffective as combat armor.