Vampire Spawn

Vampire spawn are undead creatures that come into being when vampires slay mortals. Like their creators, spawn remain bound to their coffins and to the soil of their graves.

Vampire spawn appear much as they did in life, although their features are often hardened, with a predatory look.

Vampire spawn speak Common.

Vampire spawn use their inhuman strength when engaging mortals, hammering their foes with powerful blows and dashing them against rocks or walls. They also use their gaseous form and flight abilities to strike where opponents are most vulnerable.

Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire spawn 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. On each such successful drain attack, the vampire spawn gains 5 temporary hit pints.

Dominate (Su): A vampire spawn 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 take a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell from a 5th level caster. The ability has a range of 30 feet. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a vampire spawn’s slam attack gain one negative level. The DC is 14 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. For each such negative level bestowed, the vampire spawn gains 5 temporary hit points.

Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire spawn heals 2 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.) Once at rest in its coffin, it is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 2 hit points per round.

Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, a vampire spawn can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 6th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.

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

Skills: Vampire spawn have a +4 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks.

Vampire Spawn Weaknesses

Vampire spawn are vulnerable to all attacks and effects that repel or slay vampires.

Repelling a Vampire Spawn: Vampire spawns 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 spawn—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire spawn 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 spawn at bay takes a standard action.

Vampire spawns 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 Spawn: Reducing a vampire spawn’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 vampire spawns.

Exposing any vampire spawn 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 spawn 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 spawn’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).