The Omerian Echo Campaign Setting is underway! If you haven’t already heard the news, check out the following information:
- “Shattered Lands” Campaign Setting announcement.
- Omerian Echo on Instagram.
- The Ascended: Races of Omerian Echo.
Here is the first installment, the vampir!
Playtest Content
The material here is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by final game design and editing. They aren’t officially part of the game.
Constructive feedback is welcome and appreciated in either comments or social media. If you can give me a valid reason with examples why something is off, 9/10 I’m likely to make changes to the content and credit you for doing so. Otherwise, feedback without anything to back it up gets ignored (or at most a smile emoji like this 🙂 ) Thanks!
Design Notes
I had no idea when I started creating this race that it would turn into what it did. But it did and I love it.
The trouble with taking monsters from the Monster Manual and turning them into playable races is that they almost always broken AF. It’s hard to translate a lot of the cool features available to those monsters into racial options and keep it balanced.
Without any greater inspiration, I turned to the Zendikar rules from Wizards. While I was transposing the bite attack that those vampires had, I thought to myself; why do they automatically have to heal themselves? Why not use that blood to power other functions?
Light bulb!
From there, the rest was easy, especially if you understand the rough structure of how races and spell-like abilities work.
We know from duergar and drow that certain powers are available at certain levels for races. Drow, for example, get the dancing lights cantrip at 1st. Then, at 3rd they can cast faerie fire, and at 5th they pick up darkness. Duergar get enlarge/reduce at 3rd level and invisibility at 5th. If you’ll notice, the spell level progression is roughly the same as a half-caster’s such as a ranger or paladin. Therefore, we can extrapolate a rough idea of what levels spells are available as racial innate spells:
- 1st level – cantrips
- 3rd level – 1st-level spells, sometimes 2nd-level
- 5th level – 2nd-level spells, sometimes 3rd-level
- 9th level – 3rd-level spells
- 13th level – 4th level spells
- 17th level – 5th level spells
There are probably a few unspoken rules here, too. Typically, action economy rarely, if ever, increases for any function outside of levels (such as races and feats), especially if it’s a damage-dealing effect. There are a few rare exceptions, notably goblins which get Nimble Escape (which, while I understand why it has it, kinda kills the natural goblin rogue build) that allows them to Hide as a bonus action which doubles as both a strong defensive and offensive function.
Anyways, another important thing to point out is that in the Zendikar vampire build, they can heal up to 6 hit points by drinking blood. Basically, this tells us that a weaker form of cure wounds is available to a 1st level character (with some strings attached, of course). Cure wounds typically heals 1d8 + a spellcasting modifier, so 7.5 on average as a 1st-level spell. That’s fairly telling.
I need to quit digressing and get to the point, haha! Anyways, taking this information, I built out a system of innate magic powered by “blood points” earned through draining life. It works very similarly to the Monk Way of the Four Elements. Some of the effects are nerfed for obvious reasons, and most of the good ones are attainable long after it would normally be useful (typical quarter caster design).
The only complaint I foresee is the sheer number of options available will cause some analysis paralysis, especially among noobs. ’cause let’s face it, this is a race that a lot of rookie players will be attracted to.
Vampir
The Banevoid’s vortex walls, known as the Banerazor, filters light differently, imbuing the Layer of the Ascended with a dull, pinkish glow. As such, the undead who once hid from the dangerous daylight hours now thrive in it.
Thanks to their immunity to the Glasspox disease that wiped out half the human population of High City New Amorn, the vampiric descendants of Cresko the Unholy took to the wrecked habitat and filled its halls. New Amorn (renamed Rudenkein) is a dangerous place for the underprepared. However, the vampir have learned the value of working with the other Splinter High Cities rather than against them.
Vampir are hardy and intelligent arcanists. They trade their magicks to the other settlements in exchange for food and slave labor (which is usually one in the same).
Vampir Traits
Your vampir character has some qualities in common with all vampir.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Vampir are practically immortal, often living for hundreds of years. Vampir reach maturity at the same rate humans do, typically before they are turned. Of course, a vampir’s physical appearance can deceive; whatever age they were when they were turned is the age which they appear for the rest of their long lives. For example, a vampir that appears geriatric may still be very “young” mentally, whereas a child-like vampir could be many hundreds of years old and have the mental facilities of a wizened sage.
Alignment. With long lifespans and a “devil may care” attitude, vampir almost always tend towards chaotic. Amongst the Royalbloods, there may be some semblance of unity and order, but it is all a ruse. The vampir are taught to rule by fear, pure and simple. For this reason, they are nearly always evil.
Size. All vampir stem from humans originally. As such, they share common physical traits with their ancestry. Vampir stand 5 to 6 feet and typically weigh between 120 to 180 pounds, although denotäeka are marginally shorter and heavier. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Due to thousands of years of exile in the shadows, vampir have developed a natural ability to see in the dark. 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.
Bite. Vampir do not gain sustenance through normal food or drink. Instead, they drain the lifeforce from living creatures. You can make a bite attack against a willing creature, or one that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained. Make a melee attack against the target. If you hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you gain blood points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid killed in this way returns as a zombie in 24 hours unless the Ritual of the Damned is performed upon the target before it rises. The necrotic damage dealt by your bite increases when you reach certain levels, increasing to 2d6 at 9th level, and 3d6 at 17th level.
Blood Magic. As you gain class levels, you develop innate magical powers common among all vampir, known as blood magic. When you drain the lifeforce from living creatures through your bite attack, you gain blood points. You can spend these points to fuel various blood magic features. You start knowing two such features: unearthly speed and regenerate. You learn more blood magic features as you gain class levels.
When you spend a blood point, it is unavailable until you replace it by draining the blood from another living creature. The maximum number of blood points you can have equals 1 + half your class levels plus your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). You lose any unspent blood points each day at dawn.
Some of your blood magic features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Blood magic DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Children of the Night (9th Level Required). As an action, you can spend 5 blood points to cast conjure animals. However, you can only conjure 2d4 swarms of bats or 2d4 swarms of rats, and the beasts are considered fiends instead of fey.
Impenetrable Flesh (5th Level Required). When you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to spend 3 blood points to gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, including against the triggering attack, until the start of your next turn.
Mist Form (9th Level Required). When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can use your reaction to spend 3 blood points to drop to 1 hit point instead. You also cast gaseous form targeting yourself as part of the same reaction. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
Regenerate. As a bonus action, you can spend up to 5 blood points to regain 1 hit point per blood point you spent. The number of hit points you regain per blood point spent increases as you gain class levels, increasing to 2 at 5th level, 3 at 11th level, and 4 at 17th level.
Unearthly Speed. As a bonus action, you can spend 2 blood points to take the Dash action.
Vampiric Resistance (17th Level Required). As a reaction, if you fail a saving throw, you can spend 9 blood points and choose to succeed instead.
Wall-Walking (3rd Level Required). As a bonus action, you can spend 1 blood point to gain the ability to climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. In addition, you gain a climbing speed equal your walking speed. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity. Exposure to direct sunlight is fatal to vampir. If you start your turn in sunlight, you take 20 radiant damage. In addition, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. When exposed to sunlight, you can use your reaction to spend 2 blood points to take half damage instead.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Thanks to their long lives, vampir are polyglots out of necessity.
Subrace. There are two main kinds of vampir: royalbloods and denotäeka. Choose one of these subraces.
Denotäeka
Denotäeka are the result of a young vampir improperly performing the Ritual of the Damned on a humanoid. Instead of transforming into the charming, intelligent undead creature one thinks of when they hear the name vampir, the victim instead transforms into a monstrous beast. Denotäeka are completely hairless. They have long, curved fangs that jut from their mouths and long, pointed ears. Denotäeka may lack the finesse and mental capacity of their pure-blooded masters, but they are much hardier than royalbloods, often making for vicious warriors.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1 and your Constitution score increases by 2.
Claws. Your claws are a natural weapon 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.
Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Fear Gaze (9th Level Required). As an action, you can spend 5 blood points to target a number of creatures equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) within 30 feet of you. Each creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or drop whatever it is holding and become frightened until the end of its next turn. While frightened by this effect, a creature must take the Dash action and move away from you by the safest available route on each of its turns, unless there is nowhere to move.
Wolf Form (13th Level Required). As an action, you can spend 7 blood points to transform into a wolf for 1 minute. While in wolf form, you can’t speak, your walking speed is 40 feet, and the piercing damage from your bite attack increases to 1d6 + your Strength modifier + the necrotic damage normal for your bite attack. Your statistics, other than your speed, are unchanged. Anything you are wearing transforms with you, but nothing you are carrying does. You revert to your true form if you die.
Royalbloods
Charming, intelligent, and above-all arrogant, Royalbloods consider themselves the “pure” vampir. The majority of royalbloods were created by an elder vampir (500+ years old) performing the Ritual of the Damned. No matter a royalblood’s age, it is seen as royalty among the vampir and given high status. Royalblood young, those freshly turned, learn at an early age to invoke fear among the slaves and denotäeka. “Fear is power and power is survival,” as Cresko used to say.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1 and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Bat Form (13th Level Required). As an action, you can spend 7 blood points to transform into a Tiny bat for 1 minute. While in bat form, you can’t speak, your walking speed is 5 feet, and you have a flying speed of 30 feet. Your statistics, other than your size and speed, are unchanged. Anything you are wearing transforms with you, but nothing you are carrying does. You revert to your true form if you die.
Unearthly Beauty. You know the know the friends cantrip.
Vampiric Charm (17th Level Required). As an action, you can spend 9 blood points to target one humanoid that you can see within 30 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw 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 you are killed, or you take a bonus action to end the effect.
The Ritual of the Damned
Vampir do not procreate in the traditional sense, but instead turn humanoids (almost always humans) into a vampir through a process known as the Ritual of the Damned. After you reduce a humanoid to 0 hit points with your bite attack, you can use your action on a subsequent turn to spend up to 9 blood points to transform the target into a newborn vampir. The target must make a DC 10 Charisma saving throw. It adds a bonus to its saving throw equal to the number of blood points you spent. On a failure, the creature immediately transforms into a denotäeka vampir. On a success, the creature rises as a royalblood vampir the next nightfall. If you do not use the Ritual of the Damned on a creature that you reduced to 0 hit points with your bite attack, it returns as a zombie in 24 hours.
Omerian Echo Campaign Setting: Only on Patreon!
The vampir are included in the Omerian Echo campaign setting that I’m developing for Patreon. I expect the material to be released sometime in late March (just before The Forsaken Peak Kickstarter commences).
Patrons of the Silver Club or higher get the material for FREE. Plus, all Patrons get every other PDF made for the site, including monthly collections (usually 40+ pages of content). They also get to vote in all Patron-only polls, swag, printed copies of the books, access to workshops, and top-priority requests. The best part? It only starts at $3!
“$3 for 100+ pages of monthly content? Dave, that’s cheaper than a burrito!”
Yep, sure is! So what the hell are you waiting for?
BONUS: this race will be included in the January 2019 collected works, titled EVIL, available on Patreon at ALL levels.
Check out DMDave’s Patreon today!
Art by Marta Neal.