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Vampirism

Abilities

Once the curse manifests, all vampires gain a resource called Heme that fuels their vampiric abilities. Each ability costs one or more Heme points.

Heme Points

A vampire's maximum Heme points equal 1 + 1 per 3 HD. A rest period does not restore these points; the vampire must feed to recover them. The amount of Heme restored depends on the relative sizes of the vampire and the creature they feed upon. The following table assumes a Medium vampire. Shift the results up or down for vampires of other sizes.

Creature Size Heme Restored
Sub Tiny N/A
Tiny 1/3
Very Small 1/2
Small 1
Medium 3
Large 6
Very Large 9
Gargantuan 12
Super Gargantuan 15

Alluring Gaze (Su)

Use: 1 Heme point
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft. per HD) @{medium_range} ft.
Action: Swift
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour per HD @{hd} hours
Saving Throw: Ego negates
DC: Charisma-based [[10+floor(@{hd}/2)+@{pma}+@{cha_mod}]]
Spell Resistance: No

A vampire can force one creature into the Adoring disposition, regardless of the creature's starting disposition. A successful Ego save negates this effect.

VTT Description Macro:
@{character_name} focuses their gaze on a target. That target must make an Ego save or become adoring of @{character_name}.

Mist Form (Ex)

Use: 1 Heme point
Range: Personal
Action: Immediate
Target: Self
Duration: 1 round
Saving Throw: None
DC: N/A
Spell Resistance: No

As an immediate action, a vampire becomes insubstantial mist and moves up to 60 ft. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. While in this form, the vampire can pass through barred windows, gates, and other surfaces with openings, but not through solid matter. The vampire cannot attack or interact with creatures, and only positive energy and entropic damage can harm them.

VTT Description Macro: @{character_name} turns into a thin cloud of mist and moves rapidly. This allows movement without provoking attacks of opportunity. They can move through any surface with gaps in it, but not through solid matter. Mist form protects against all damage except positive energy and entropic damage.

Vampiric Regeneration (Su)

Use: 1 or more Heme points
Range: Personal
Action: Standard
Target: Self
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
DC: N/A
Spell Resistance: No

A vampire restores 4d10 HP per Heme point spent. Spell Proficiency affects this healing.

VTT Description Macro: @{character_name} spends ?{Heme points} Heme points to heal themselves.

VTT Number of Dice: [[?{heme points}*4]]

Heme Transfusion (Su)

Use: 1 or more Heme points
Range: Personal
Action: Full round
Target: Self
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
DC: N/A
Spell Resistance: No

A vampire can convert Heme points into other resource points, such as Focus, Gumption, or Grace, at a rate of 2 Heme points per resource point. They can also convert Heme points into spell slots at a one-to-one rate.

VTT Description Macro: @{character_name} spends Heme points to restore their own resources.

Uncanny Agility (Ex)

Use: 2 Heme points
Range: Personal
Action: Swift
Target: Self
Duration: 1 round per 2 HD [[floor(@{hd}/2)]] rounds
Saving Throw: None
DC: N/A
Spell Resistance: No

A vampire can suddenly burst into speed and agility. They gain a +3 haste bonus to AC and Reflex saves, +40 ft. to their ground speed, and one additional attack per round, similar to the effects of Haste.

Note: This ability does not stack with Haste; it overrides the spell's effects.

VTT Description Macro: @{character_name} suddenly bursts into motion with shocking agility. They gain a +3 haste bonus to AC and Reflex saves, +40 ft. to their ground speed, and an additional attack per round.

Benefits

Attribute Modification

+4 Dexterity, +4 Wisdom, and +4 Charisma. These bonuses are applied in addition to the base species' attribute modifications.

Undead Traits

  • Immune to most poisons.
  • Immune to disease.
  • Immune to cold damage.
  • Immune to desiccation damage, though every 20 points of desiccation damage drains 1 Heme point.
  • Vulnerable to heat damage.
  • Takes damage from positive energy instead of healing from it.
  • Heals from negative energy instead of taking damage from it.
  • Immune to bleed damage, attribute damage, and similar effects that harm the body. Bleed effects drain Heme as normal.
  • Immune to charm, command, and some compulsion effects.*
  • Gains damage reduction 5/silver. This increases to 10/silver at 10 HD and 15/silver at 20 HD.
  • Has no Constitution score.
  • Uses a d12 for all HD.

*This includes Command, charm effects, and other effects that dictate behavior. It does not include religious effects or effects with a positive, negative, holy, or unholy aspect.

Curse

Vampires suffer from a variety of restrictions and weaknesses, some of which can be fatal.

Impotent

Vampires cannot engage in physical romantic intimacy.

Sunlight

A vampire directly exposed to sunlight takes 40d6 heat damage per round. Minimal exposure, such as a gap between a sleeve and glove, deals only 2d6 heat damage per round. The Definition Master determines the damage for exposure between these extremes.

Resting on Home Soil

To rest and regain daily resources, a vampire must sleep within the bounds of an ancestral land, home, or similar place.

Note: A vampire only needs to rest or relax to restore daily resources.

Private Residence

A vampire cannot enter a private residence without a direct invitation.

Running Water

A vampire cannot cross a large stream, river, or similar channel of water under their own power. Someone else must carry or transport them across it.

Responding to Call Out

When someone addresses a vampire by their birth name, the vampire must respond directly to that person. If asked a question, the vampire must answer, though not necessarily truthfully.

Compulsive Counting

If a container spills objects roughly the size of a coin or smaller, a vampire must succeed on a Will save with a DC equal to 10 + their HD + any other modifiers or spend 1d6 minutes counting the objects.

Compulsive Knot Untangling

If a vampire encounters a net, rope, or string that is knotted in a clearly unintended way, they must succeed on a Will save with a DC equal to 10 + their HD + any other modifiers or spend 1d4 minutes untangling it.

Salt Lines

A vampire cannot cross a threshold warded by a line of salt or disturb the salt. If knocked or thrown across the threshold or into the salt, they take 20d6 heat damage.

Feeding

A vampire must feed upon a living creature at least once per week and restore at least 1 Heme point or become Fatigued. If they go two weeks without feeding, they mindlessly kill the nearest living creatures until they recover Heme.

Holy Symbols

Holy symbols repel vampires if they represent an anti-undead god or emanate positive energy. Holy ground generally disables all Heme abilities.

Note: A holy symbol does not repel a vampire who is truly faithful to the god it represents.

Garlic

Vampires are allergic to garlic. Contact with it leaves a vampire Nauseated for 1d4 minutes. Consuming garlic leaves them Nauseated for 24 hours.

Hawthorn

A vampire cannot willingly move within 5 ft. of a hawthorn thicket. If forced into one, they become Stifled for 1d4 minutes.

Silver

Silver bypasses a vampire's damage reduction. Direct contact between silver and a vampire's skin disables their Heme abilities.

Fairy Blood

Fairies are natural beings of Korrenth and serve, in part, as attendants of the natural world. All fairies have black blood. A vampire that consumes fairy blood immediately takes 10d6 corrosive damage. If they consume more than a taste, they dissolve and die.