Character Crunch: The Vampire Class Draft 1

As it pours, a small vampire halfling cloaked in shadow rests in wait for the priests below to invite his companions inside so he may join them in discovering what lies in the basement of the church. He knows there is great evil in the world and he will drain the bad blood from it, a few drops a time, because he is patient. Because he has no limit to his patience. He is immortal.

A vampire dragonborn raises his lance and shield, once more, and readies to lunge forward into the melee ahead of him. Blood sprays in the air and fills his nostrils with the familiar stench of death as his comrades draw first blood. He has died before. He will die again. And he will keep on fighting until he has won.

A vampiric elf is in good spirits. It is overcast and she can go into the marketplace with her compatriots. She hopes to find some useful ingredients to restock her herbalism kit when she notices a few strange looks. It seems that there are a lot of men in white and red armor about. The inquisition has followed them this far. She cannot allow her friends to become caught up in this trouble and so she turns into mist and floats away.

BORN FROM DEATH, TO LIVE AGAIN

They were mortal, once, but their desires have become an insataible hunger. Most vampires have been reduced or, in their eyes, risen to the apex of supernatural predators. They are cold-blooded and calculating undead. They often use their immortality to acquire influence, wealth and positions of power. They then hunt mortals to feed on their blood and to create new vampires by sharing the curse of vampirism. Vampirism is a curse passed down from a variety of evil gods.

When a vampire kills another humanoid and drains them of their blood, if they bury the humanoid's body, their victim will rise as a vampire spawn the following night. The vampire spawn serves their new master, their sire, as a lesser vampire-- a child of the night. If the spawn's sire decides to share their own blood with the spawn, the spawn becomes a full vampire and independent. Most vampire spawn never reach true vampirehood but is a sire grows fond of or needs the assistance of their spawn, they will often reward them with ascension.

From their they gain increasing supernatural power that they would, normally, use to continue the cycle. But some vampires fight against their darker desires and try to use their powers to fight against greater evil.

UNDEAD ADVENTURERS

Vampire adventurers are vampires that decide to turn their curse into a gift. 

They've experienced the suffering of life, death and undeath. They may have once been adventurers and perhaps their desire to do good has overcome even being transformed into a shadow of their former selves. Vampire adventurers might be seeking revenge against an evil done against them in life or undeath, they may be seeking power to rise against the forces of darkness, or they may just want to be more than a monster.

VAMPIRES IN SUBLANARYA

The legends about vampires in Sublanarya are similar to those found in all worlds. Vampires are undead creatures that suck the blood of the living. They fear sunlight and running water. They can turn into bats and mist. They are incredible difficult to kill except by beheading and/or a stake to heart. But there is a powerful kabal of vampires that are all but a secret in Sublanarya.

On the island of Lachrimosa, where it never ceases to rain, vampire nobles run the island's enterprise while lesser under run the criminal activities. On the island, where the sun never shines, the vampire nobility cover up all manner of nasty activities and only enact justice against each other. The worst thing a vampire of Lachriomosa can do is to try to expose them.

THE VAMPIRE

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	2	Child of the Night
2nd	2	Spiderclimb, Bat Form
3rd	2	Path of the Vampire Lord
4th	2	Ability Score Improvement
5th	3	Burst of Speed
6th	3	Path of the Vampire Lord feature
7th	3	Mist Form
8th	3	Ability Score Improvement
9th	4	Vampiric Charm
10th	4	Path of the Vampire Lord feature
11th	4	Improved Burst of Speed
12th	4	Ability Score Improvement
13th	5	Flight of the Night
14th	5	--
15th	5	Cloak of the Night
16th	5	Ability Score Improvement
17th	6	Celerity
18th	6	--
19th	6	Ability Score Improvement
20th	6	Lord of Undeath, Path of the Vampire Lord Feature

CREATING A VAMPIRE
Almost all vampires begin their undeath as vampire spawn. They are created when a vampire kills a mortal and buries them. Usually, the vampire spawn rises the following night as an obedient thrall of the vampire. This vampire is called the spawn's "sire" and they have a connection that is a dark perversion of parent and child. If the vampire chooses to allow the spawn to feed of its own blood, they will become a true vampire. Most vampires are predators but, perhaps, some vampires manage to retain enough of their humanity to ally themselves with adventurers or, even more impressive, become adventures themselves.

When creating a vampire character, it is important to consider:

Who were they before they were born? Who turned them? Why? How traumatic was their transformation? How did their sire treat them? What was their relationship? Why did their sire grant them independence? Since being granted independence, what have they done? What do they want? Do they seek to use their powers to help others? Do they seek redemption for their sins? Do they seek a cure for their curse? Do they seek revenge on those that harmed the loved ones of their past life? What is the ultimate goal of this immortal?

This class option is most likely going to be used by a player character that has returned from the dead as an undead shadow of themselves.

QUICK BUILD

CLASS FEATURES

As a vampire, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per Vampire level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per vampire level after 1st

Proficiencies

Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma

Skills: You are proficient in the Perception and Stealth skills.

The rest of your proficiencies and starting equipment are granted by your background and your Memories of a Life in the Sun.

Memories of a Life in the Sun
Upon becoming a vampire, you lose a semblance of self. You have your memories but it as if they are in a fog. This experience is so powerful that it drives many vampires to madness or to choose to ignore their past. Still, a vampire's mortal life has a distinct affect on their persona as a vampire.

When creating a vampire, choose the class from the Player's Handbook that best fits your character's past. Your vampire gains the armor, weapons, tool, and skill proficiencies granted by that class at 1st level. You can also start with the starting equipment for that class.

Child of the Night

Undead
At 1st level, you gain the undead monster type and resist necrotic damage. You also don't need to breathe and do not age. You are immune to disease. But you do require sleep.

When resting, you must sleep in a grave, tomb, coffin or other container that has soil from your first gravesite when your were created. If you are unable to do so, you cannot sleep.

You can perform the following ritual to create a new grave and grave soil: you must be buried in soil for 24 hours. During this period, you cannot take any actions or the ritual will have be restarted.

When you fail three death saving throws, outside of your resting place, and haven't been standing in direct sunlight, haven't taken magic weapon damage this turn, or been beheaded, you can transform into a cloud of mist (as listed in the Shapechanger trait) instead of falling unconscious or dying.

While you have 0 hit points in mist form, 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 reverts 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.

Darkvision
Since you became a child of the night, your eyes have taken on a crimson hue that help you see in the dead of night.

At 1st level, you have darkvision. 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. At 10th level, increase your darkvision to 120 feet.
Insatiable Predator
Vampires are fierce melee combatants with the ability to drain their victims of blood.


At 1st level, you have two natural weapons: your claws and your bite. Your bite can be used as an off-hand weapon.

Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. At 10th level, increase your damage to 2d4 + your Strength modifier damage. You may instead of dealing damage, choose to grapple a target.

Your bite is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes against one willing creature or a creature that is grappled, incapacitated, or restrained. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier plus 1d8 + your vampire level in necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken and, if you spend a hit die, you may regains hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest and the target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. At 10th level, the necrotic damage increases to 10 (3d6) and a humanoid slain in this way and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under your control.

Vampire Weaknesses
Playing a vampire has serious upsides and downsides: while you are gifted with increasingly valuable predatory powers and arcane gifts, you also

At 1st level, you have the following flaws:

Forbiddance. A vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
Harmed by Running Water. The vampire takes 10 acid damage if it ends its turn in running water.
Stake to the Heart. If a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into the vampire's heart while the vampire is incapacitated, the vampire is paralyzed until the stake is removed and cannot turn into its mist form. If it drops to 0 hit points while staked, it dies.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The vampire takes 10 radiant damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability Checks.

Nightcrawler
Vampires have a supernatural mobility that allows them to adhere to surfaces like a creeping spider.

At 2nd level, you can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without need to make an ability check.

Bat Form
At 2nd level, if you aren't in sun light or running water, you can now use your action to polymorph into a tiny bat or back into your true form.

While in bat form, you can't speak, your walking speed is 5 feet, and you have a flying speed of 30 feet. Its statistics, other than its size and speed, are unchanged. Anything it is wearing transforms with it, but nothing it is carrying does. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

You can perform the action to transform between a bat and your true form any number of times equal to half your vampire level + 1 (min 2). You regain this ability when you take a short or long rest.

Path of the Vampire Lord
At 3rd level, you choose to forge a new path that befits your ambitions as a vampire. Choose Noble or Warrior, all detailed at the end of the class description. The archetype you choose grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

Ability Score Improvement.
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th 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.

Burst of Speed
At 5th level, you gain the ability to exert yourself for a supernatural exertion. You can dash as a bonus action.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

At 11th level, you become a blur of motion on the battlefield. You can use your burst of speed any number of times.

Mist Form
At 7th level, if you aren't in sun light or running water, you can now use your action to polymorph into a medium cloud of mist, or back into your true form.

While in mist form, the vampire can't take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. It is weightless, has 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, the mist can do so without squeezing, and it can't pass through water. It has advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and it is immune to all nonmagical damage, except the damage it takes from sunlight.

You regain the ability to transform into mist after taking a short or long rest.

Vampiric Charm
At 9th level, the vampire targets one humanoid it can see within 30 ft. of it. If the target can see you, the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus+ your Charisma against this magic or be charmed by you. The charmed target regards you as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn't under your control, it takes your requests or actions in the most favorable way it can, and it is a willing target for your bite attack.
Each time you or your companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until your are destroyed, are on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Flight of the Night
As you make your way, you learn the secrets of the night and can float as easily as the mist.

At 13th level, you can levitate at will. You gain a flight speed of 30 and when you fall you can take a reaction to float gently to the ground. If you already had a natural flight speed, it doubles.

Cloak of the Night
At 15th level, you can take a reaction to reroll a saving throw or half damage from an attack against you. When you do so, you burst into a quickly disappearing swarm of bats and you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Celerity
At 17th level, you gain enough control of your unnatural speed to take additional action when taking bursts of speed. You can expend a bonus action to dash with improved burst of speed you can also take an additional action and bonus action.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Lord of Undeath
At 20th level, you are now an immortal demigod that is feared by all creatures of the night.
You can take your mist form as any times as you want.
You no longer have to spend your hit dice when you bite a target to regain a number of hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage they take from the bite.

Path of the Vampire Lord: Noble or Warrior
A vampire may not be the same person they were in life but, upon becoming a true vampire, they regain a sense of independent identity. This newly forged identity is a combination of your mortal memories, your experiences as a vampire and your immortal goals.

At 3rd level, you choose a path to walk under moonlight:

Path of the Noble

At 3rd level, you gain training from your refinement. Choose two of your skill proficiencies, orone of your skill proficiencies and your proficiency with tools. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any
ability check you make that uses either o f the chosen proficiencies.
At 6th level, you can choose two more of your proficiencies (in skills or with tools to gain
this benefit.

At 3rd level, you also gain spellcasting.

VAMPIRE NOBLE SPELLCASTING

Level	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	Spells Slots per Spell Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
3rd	2	3		3	-	-	-	-
4th	3	3		3	-	-	-	-
5th	3	4		4	2	-	-	-
6th	3	4		4	2	-	-	-
7th	3	5		4	3	-	-	-
8th	3	5		4	3	-	-	-
9th	3	6		4	3	2	-	-
10th	4	6		4	3	2	-	-
11th	4	7		4	3	3	-	-
12th	4	7		4	3	3	-	-
13th	4	8		4	3	3	1	-
14th	4	8		4	3	3	1	-
15th	4	9		4	3	3	2	-
16th	4	9		4	3	3	2	-
17th	4	10		4	3	3	3	1
18th	4	10		4	3	3	3	1
19th	4	11		4	3	3	3	2
20th	4	11		4	3	3	3	2

Spellcasting
When you reach 3rd level, you gain notable proficiency with the ability to cast spells of a specific class: druid or wizard. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the spell lists.
Cantrips. You learn two cantrips of your choice from the class's spell list. You learn an additional class cantrip of your choice at 6th and10th levels.
Spell Slots. The Vampire Noble Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher. You know three 1st-level class spells of your choice.
The Spells Known column of the Vampire Mage Spellcasting table shows when you learn more class spells o f 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the class spells you know with another spell of your choice from the class's spell list. The new spell must be o f a level for which you have spell slots, unless you’re replacing the spell you gained at 8th, 14th, or 20th level.
Spellcasting Ability. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells or Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your druid spells. You can use your Intelligence, if you choose wizard, or your Wisdom, if you choose druid, whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell or you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a druid spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier or Wisdom modifier

At 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. 

Path of the Warrior

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency in all armors, shields, and martial weapons. Also, you adopt your first fighting style from Fighter's list of Fighting Style options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again. At 10th level, you gain an additional Fighting style.

At 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 11th level in this class and to four when you reach 20th level in this class.