Vampire, 13th-Level Half-Elf Monk/Shadowdancer

Forever anchored to their coffins and the unholy earth of their graves, these nocturnal predators scheme constantly to strengthen themselves and fill the world with their foul progeny.

Vampires appear just as they did in life, although their features are often hardened and feral, with the predatory look of wolves. Like liches, they often embrace finery and decadence and may assume the guise of nobility. Despite their human appearance, vampires can be easily recognized, for they cast no shadows and throw no reflections in mirrors.

Vampires speak any languages they knew in life.

This example uses a half-elf 9th-level monk/4th-level shadowdancer as the base creature.

This vampire’s unarmed strikes are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points.

Children of the Night (Su): Vampires command the lesser creatures of the world and once per day can call forth 1d6+1 rat swarms, 1d4+1 bat swarms, or a pack of 3d6 wolves as a standard action. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this power might summon other creatures of similar power.) These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour.

Dominate (Su): A vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire’s energy drain rises as a vampire spawn 1d4 days after burial.

If the vampire instead drains the victim’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the victim returns as a spawn if it had 4 or less HD and as a vampire if it had 5 or more HD. In either case, the new vampire or spawn is under the command of the vampire that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. At any given time a vampire may have enslaved spawn totaling no more than twice its own Hit Dice; any spawn it creates that would exceed this limit are created as free-willed vampires or vampire spawn. A vampire that is enslaved may create and enslave spawn of its own, so a master vampire can control a number of lesser vampires in this fashion. A vampire may voluntarily free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or vampire spawn cannot be enslaved again.

Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a vampire’s slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. The DC is 17 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. For each negative level bestowed, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A vampire can use its energy drain ability once per round.

Alternate Form (Su): A vampire can assume the shape of a bat, dire bat, wolf, or dire wolf as a standard action. While in its alternate form, the vampire loses its natural slam attack and dominate ability, but it gains the natural weapons and extraordinary special attacks of its new form. It can remain in that form until it assumes another or until the next sunrise. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this power might allow other forms.)

Damage Reduction (Su): A vampire has damage reduction 10/silver and magic. A vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, a vampire can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.

Resistances (Ex): A vampire has resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10.

Spider Climb (Ex): A vampire can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.

Turn Resistance (Ex): A vampire has +4 turn resistance.

Flurry of Blows (Ex): Use the full attack action to make one extra attack per round with an unarmed strike or a special monk weapon at her highest base attack, making the extra attack either with her +2 keen kama or unarmed.

Ki Strike (Su): Deal damage to creatures with damage reduction using unarmed strike as though with a magic weapon.

Shadow Illusion (Sp): Create visual illusions from shadows as silent image once per day.

Summon Shadow (Sp): Summon one shadow companion, which cannot be turned, rebuked, or commanded by others. If the shadow is destroyed or dismissed, the shadowdancer must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or lose 800 XP (400 XP on a successful save). A new shadow cannot be summoned for a year and a day.

Half-Elf Traits (Ex): Immunity to sleep spells and effects; +2 racial bonus on saves against enchantment spells or effects; lowlight vision (can see twice as far as a human in low-light conditions); +1 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, and Search checks (already figured into the statistics given here); +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su): Can use the Hide skill even while being observed as long as within 10 feet of a shadow.

Improved Evasion (Ex): If the vampire makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. In addition, she takes only half damage on a failed save.

Purity of Body (Ex): Immunity to all diseases except for magical diseases such as mummy rot and lycanthropy.

Shadow Jump (Sp): Travel instantaneously between shadows as a dimension door spell, up to 20 feet per day.

Slow Fall (Ex): A monk within arm’s reach of a wall takes damage as if the fall were 40 feet shorter than it actually is.

Still Mind (Ex): +2 bonus on saves against enchantment spells and effects.

Wholeness of Body (Su): Cure up to 18 hit points of her own wounds each day.

Skills: Vampires have a +8 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks.

Feats: Vampires gain Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Reflexes.

Possessions: +2 keen kama, +1 frost sling, 10 +1 sling bullets, ring of protection +2, bracers of armor +3, periapt of Wisdom +4.

Vampire Weaknesses

For all their power, vampires have a number of weaknesses.

Repelling a Vampire: Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from a mirror or a strongly presented holy symbol. These things don’t harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from a creature holding the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against the creature holding the item for the rest of the encounter. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action.

Vampires are also unable to cross running water, although they can be carried over it while resting in their coffins or aboard a ship. They are utterly unable to enter a home or other building unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. They may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all.

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).