Vampire, 2nd Variant (5e Race)

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Scales.png This page is of questionable balance. Reason: The bit attack is essentially 1d4 + 1d8, which is much stronger than that of the lizardfolk, with maximum damage potential equal to dragonborn breath (2d6). The nightborn subrace exacerbates this issue. There also are simply too many traits compared to even the already strong vampire race. The use of blood points make this race very abusable in healing and general versatility if you can just suck off your friends. The embraced just straight up gives you pick of traits from all humanoid races and it also lessens the restriction of drinking blood. Some of the traits do not use strictly defined wording, which leads to possible abuse. For example, defining the amount of sunlight will just have the dm and player arguing over the situation of damage dealt. Overall, this thing is way too powerful.


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Vampire, 2nd Variant[edit]

An Important Distinction[edit]

There are two main types of vampires; those being full-vampires and half-vampires. This race concerns full-vampires. There are then two types of full-vampires; those that are naturally born and those that are turned. Nightborn, or full-vampires, are the offspring of various combinations of full-vampires and others; they are considered the archetypical vampire. Turned-vampires, or the embraced, are people that were not originally vampires, but were fully turned after being bitten. The embraced can be loyal to those that turned them, and some even join their "embracer’s" family, but it is not uncommon for an embraced to go their own way.

Vampires, in this version, are an off-shoot of the human race created through the infection of the first vampire by a magical pathogen that so drastically changed his DNA that his offspring were barely recognizable as human, and those he intentionally turned were then also infected by the initial pathogen. While this version of vampirism is functionally a disease, it still retains a magical and religious focus that can be dealt with by medical innovation, divine intervention, arcane and occult practice, or maybe even delicately harnessed into a next step in evolution.

Physical Description[edit]

Despite their many functional similarities, the nightborn and embraced are physiologically different. A biologically born vampire, to the untrained eye, resembles a strange pallid elf; they have pale skin, sharp ears, and a typically lanky-skinny complexion. However, they also have sharper, more elongated teeth, and thick claw-like fingernails, or something strange about their eyes. The embraced, however, are much more indistinguishable. They resemble, almost entirely, the race they were, and in many ways still are, before they were turned; albeit they are much paler, their teeth and nails much sharper, and they detest sunlight.

History[edit]

All of vampire kind can be traced back to the patient zero, a barbarian king of the upper sectors of Pyrrhia well before such nations were even conceived. The exact lore of his name, his house, his rule, and his kingdom have been lost to time (or perhaps are being hoarded by those that rule now), but there are many myths and legends that detail both all of those things and how he came to be infected. The truth of these myths, as the truth of all myths are, is not infallible, but many vampires either worship him as a god, regard him as a bloodthirsty fool, or are somewhere else or in between.

Society[edit]

Vampire societies, those few that exist, exist quietly and away from most or many. Vampires have a strange sense of camaraderie that is complex and not always consistent. Vampires, functionally being a gated community of empowered beings, typically keep with other vampires, but they are not always loyal. Many vampires feel a fierce notion of family with other vampires, as there are no others who understand their lives, but might have to betray them in order to stay alive. All vampires, with few exceptions, live in a constant state of political shenanigan-ery in which they are all fiercely loyal to each and yet backstabbing and traitorous.

Vampire Names[edit]

Nightborn are named as any other human is, although they may often gain titles that establish power. Embraced vampires will typically keep the first name they had had before they were turned, but it is not uncommon for them to change their name in order to avoid their past life. The Embraced also tend to change their last name to the last name of the vampire who turned them, but this is not exclusively required.

First Names: Vladimir, Vladimovi, Justin, Borovar, Nikolaz, Dalga

Last Names: Dracula, Zwikelascht, Braug, Marisson, Zlostikrim

Vampire Traits[edit]

A race of humans forever changed by a disease, magical or unholy, caught by a forefather of civilization
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. Vampires live as long as they have blood to consume. Physically, they reach maturity at about the same rate as humans, but seem to reach the more extreme levels of old age at extremely late parts of their life.
Alignment. Vampires, as being creatures that only live because of their literal thirst for blood, tend to be very self-centered. A vampire could easily be any of the good alignments, although it is rare. Vampires can be of any alignment, but lean to the more selfish ones.
Size. Vampires are of about the same size and bodily proportions of normal humans, but tend to be very tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
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.
Unholy Existence. You are vulnerable to radiant damage. Additionally, you can consume food, but it is always tasteless.
Claws. Your fingernails can extend to dangerous lengths, allowing you to use them as natural weapons. You are proficient in unarmed strikes. When you make an unarmed strike, you deal 1d4 + your strength (or dexterity) modifier in slashing damage instead of the normal damage dealt by an unarmed strike.
Bite. Your teeth are weapons of death, as well as tools of disease. You are considered proficient with your teeth, and add your strength or dexterity modifier as an attack bonus when you are attacking someone with your teeth. If you land an attack with your teeth, you deal 1d4 piercing damage.
Consume Vitality. You, as a vampire, need to consume blood in order to survive. If you go for longer than seven days without consuming at least one ration of blood, at the end of that seventh day (and at the end of every seventh day after that one), you take one level of exhaustion. After consuming one ration of blood, you recover all levels of exhaustion created by this trait. If you compound six levels of exhaustion through this feature, you are destroyed as if by the disintegrate spell. A ration of blood is considered roughly 4 ounces. While this is enough to keep you alive for a week, you will likely feel the urge to feed still and may even feel ravenous in the presence of blood or creatures that have it. A pint of blood is considered a sufficient amount to circumvent this behavior, and a healthy amount to consume in a week. Each ration of blood heals you for 2d4 + your Constitution modifier in hit points, and a pint will heal you for 2d6 + your Constitution modifier in hit points.
Mild Polymorph. You can transform, briefly, into a bat. You keep your Intelligence score during this transformation, but all other stats are replaced with that of a small bat. You can keep this transformation for 1d4 hours. If you use this ability during the night, your movement speed is doubled and the transformation lasts for 2d4 hours.
Alluring Eyes. You know the charm person spell. You can cast this spell with this trait an amount of times equal to your Charisma modifier and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
Burn Away All Impurity. If any length of your skin is exposed to direct sunlight, you will take fire damage. You will take 1d4 fire damage if it is a small amount, 1d8 if it is a medium amount, 1d10 if it is a large amount, and 1d12 if you are entirely exposed. What is considered to be a small, medium, large, or entirely-exposed amount is up to the leisure of the DM.
Trance. You do not sleep, instead you meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon, as well as one language of your choice.
Subrace. You are either a Nightborn or an Embraced.

Nightborn[edit]

The odd offspring of two vampires; you did not have a choice in being the continuation of bloodshed and disease. Nightborn tend to resemble their parents, as genetics does do that, but with slightly more angular features. Your claws are longer and tougher. Your teeth are sharped and more viable as weapons.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1
Biological Whetstone. Your claws and teeth are much sharper than other vampires. Your claws and teeth both deal an additional damage dice of damage.
Improved Polymorph. Instead of transforming into a singular bat, you transform into a swarm of bats. You keep all of your stats during this transformation, as well as the damage capabilities of Biological Whetstone, Claws, and Bite. This transformation can last for 1d4 hours, or until you dispel it. If you use this ability during the night, your movement speed is doubled and the transformation lasts for 2d4 hours.

Embraced[edit]

You were a person once. And while you may resemble what you used to be, save for the slightly blank stare and the sharper teeth, you aren't that anymore. The embraced tend to resemble themselves before they were turned, only with a few minute changes that most don't detect.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1
Human Visage. It is paramount that your true nature stays a closely guarded secret if you fancy a normal life. Because of this, you may pick another race of your choosing. This is the race many will recognize you as, and it is also the race you were before you were turned. You gain all the features of this chosen race along with the features of its subrace.
Fragment of Humanity. A fragment of your humanity is still within you, slowly combating this bloodthirsty disease. It takes fourteen days for you to take a level of exhaustion due to a lack of blood consumption instead of seven.

Random Height and Weight[edit]

Base
Height
Height
Modifier*
Base
Weight
Weight
Modifier**
6′ 1'' +2d6 60 lb. × (1d4) lb.

*Height = base height + height modifier
**Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00
(one vote)

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