The thing with monsters having a weakness to silver comes from the purifying nature of it. Silver has some form of an anti-bacterial effect, and due to being a precious metal, it doesn't oxidize like iron or tarnishes as easily as copper. That gave silver some mystical powers, amongst them the ability to cleanse the demonic. That's why it was believed that Vampires don't reflect in mirrors or show up in photografs, because the silver would reject to show the unclean Soul of the Vampire (or at least that's the reason I was told).
My own rule for vampires: There are generations, the more ancient the vampire is, the more formidable. Sure, crosses and garlic might work on the more recently transformed ones, but they will certainly not work on the ancient ones. The first generation vampires in my setting are not even afraid of sunlight. Sure it strips away a bit of their powers but they don't take damage from sunlight. The expressions on my players' faces when I described one of the Elders casually flicks away their "holy water imbued arrows" and sliver weapons or whatnot, then sneer at them, stating something along the lines of "Is this all thine uncivilized folks could muster? How disappointing." was priceless since my players had been ignoring all the hints I dropped for them (a preacher killed in a church, witnesses saying that npcs are killed in the day...etc).
I generally run them the same way. Although I don't use holy symbols at all. Hallowed ground works though. And I do completely different and competing bloodlines
Fun fact with Stake to the Heart: Often times this doens't *kill* the Vampire, it simply binds/seals the vampire, keeping it 'dead'/slumbering until such time as the stake is removed, and it returns to its coffin to regenerate. So, if the players stake the vampire you can make them think its dead and bring the Vampire back as a possible twist villain in the future.
Oh yes, and one of the weaknesses from Dracula that never got mass adoption was the mention that a vampire could be trapped inside their coffin by placing a wild rose on it's lid. Though a magic rose drawing on this actually did show up in one early Ravenloft module back in Second edition.
1:56 *Unpredictable Players:* "Hmmm... Vampire is too obvious..." /begins to gear up to fight the chupacabra As for Vampire weaknesses, I find it more interesting to subvert them when possible than to outright remove them. Curse of Strahd actually does an amazing job with this. Strahd is the old fashioned feudal lord of Barovia, so he technically owns all houses in the valley's towns. Barovia's vampires are hurt by sunlight, but Barovia's sky is totally and permanently overcast.
I really think Curse of Stradh would have worked better without the always darkness thing I think it would have made for an intresting cycle of tension and release.
@@DaDunge Personally I think that's a bit too predictable. I'd just have day and night have different dangers. You're never really safe unless you make it so, but it isn't always the dead of night. And not all the monsters have fangs. Yes everyone in the setting is Strahd's toy effectively, but there is a difference between being a source of amusement and having the dark lord of the realm take an active or even inactive interest in you.
Strahd can’t invade homes in Barovia RAW without invitation. The feudal lord clause is fanon. That’s a case of DM’s not wishing to work around a restriction. When he can just charm someone hundreds of times a day and demand to be invited inside.
I think Innistrad's Vampires are interesting as well. An excerpt from Planeshift Innistrad: "Weapons cut from living wood are particularly effective against vampires, though any weapon can harm or kill them. A vampire can’t cross running water that shows the reflection of the moon, and water blessed by Avacyn (holy water) burns vampire flesh like acid. A vampire’s reflection in silver (including a silver-backed glass mirror) appears as the vampire would have looked without the vampiric condition-neither its true appearance nor its glamer, but a normal human, flaws and all. For that reason, vampires go to great lengths to avoid mirrors, and the presence of silver in any form is unsettling to them." They also don't have any weakness to the sun. The only weaknesses they have are listed above.
Using the vampire transformations from the GHCG, one of my players is currently a level 2 vampire, level 8 hexblade warlock and the tension at the table is palpable. He recently forgot about the “must feed every 7 days or else…” and just went on a feeding frenzy last session. The party spent the time role playing trying to stop him and him not being able to stop himself. Really good stuff and the character development for everyone is expanding in multiple layers.
Just as clarification: Bruxa is pronounced as the X in Mexico or Quixote. As the χ in greek, it is a j/sh sound (depends on accent for regions) and very close to the english h. Brujas/Bruxas would eat children to keep their youth, and are closer to hags in English folklore. A scary Bruxo was the Hombre del Saco (Man of the Sack) who would kidnap and eat or make soap out of kids that didn’t eat their veggies or misbehaved in any way. Shockingly enough for many, based in a true historical figure. Soap made of kids was claimed to keep the user young, so it did became popular among rich spaniards.
Pointy Hat has an idea where different types of vampires are associated with the seven deadly sins. (good video - check it out). I don't like the way he turns that into a stat block, however. For me, a powerful vampire has an always-on aura. Being in the presence of a vampire, especially in it's lair, should be suffocating in it's power. A lust vampire has a charm aura, a sloth vampire has a slow aura, a wrath vampire has a rage aura, a gluttony vampire has a hunger aura, and so on. These effects should smother the players, making it hard for them to think and act as their normal selves. I would theme each vampire with related abilities - perhaps the wrath vampire has a berserk form, the lust vampire is horrendously proficient at grappling, a greed vampire is loaded with magic items it can use to defend itself, the envy vampire can use players' abilities against them, etc.
As a European I see a lot of people mistaken what running water means. Running water is just rivers and streams. Also balkan vampires are more like a demon/werewolf/corpses. Imagine something like a zombie shifter that is like an animal. Essentialy the demon ocupies a corpse
I always liked the idea that both all of the tropes are true and none of them are. You never know which restrictions apply to a given vampire until they're tested. Keep the players on their toes and cautious about how they approach testing whether someone's a vampire or not. If they overplay their hand, they tip off the vampire that they suspect them and fail to make a determination for themselves.
My thoughts exactly, have the listed weaknesses be all possible but don't necessarily apply to every single vampire. They may have completely different weaknesses, some that may exist because of the lives they lead before such as a former priest of a lunar god being vulnerable to the light of the full moon instead of sunlight. Keep the players on their toes and make each vampire unique, needing research and caution to confront.
Two new vampire ideas: 1. The vampire is a corpse that never leaves the grave. Instead it's blood drinking ghost comes each night, reforming every time it's destroyed. 2. A sun vampire that births from flame in the day. Its bite gives creative inspiration but also obsession until the victim literally bursts into flame and burns out.
Idea 1 reminds me of the Nachzehrer. I'm not sure, if I remember this correctly, but from what I remember, they stay in their grave, and eat/bite the robe/cloth they were burried in, thereby causing illness and suffering in their remaining family, which sustains them (I think they also can cause bad luck to their victims). So maybe they cause psychic damage instead of necrotic, while they slowly eat away at their still living families sanity and will to live. Maybe you can build in a twist, like the Vampire that doesn't want to hurt people, but can't help but doing it. Maybe this creature reforms each time it is destroyed, because it's cursed. Maybe they were raised in a very poor family, but discovered that they were actually the illegitimate child of a wealthy local noble, and when they confronted that Noble, they were killed by them (so the noble wouldn't lose face in the public) and now they are cursed to the existance of an undead Monster, unable to communicate with anyone, but trying to tell people the truth of their death. And due to the curse, all family, close and extended, in this and several surrounding settlements (so a lot of people), are at risk. So the PCs get on the case, defeating the monster, but then it comes back, and they slowly learn what this creature and its effects are. And maybe they begin to wonder, why the local noble suddenly seems so religious and has such bad fortune, when the curse only affects those related to the one that turned into the Monster?
Love the idea of turning one of the party. Then if the party confronst the elder vampire he can chide the turned player: "Foolish boy! dont you know not to name your food?"
Hmm, actually this makes me remember the Undead rulebook from Third edition, where while going over the fundamental negatives of being undead, one thing that came up was all the spells and evil priest powers to command undead. Since unlike spells used to command living people, there were no extra resistances or additional saves for going against personal morality etc, and it was also explicitly stated that the undead never felt upset or angry over being commanded. Which honestly could be a truly horrific moment, either a party member, or an associated friendly undead npc being subjected to a command and afterward having to admit that their not freaked out over what they did but over the fact that they can't feel any remorse over what they did.
My favorite redefined vampires are definetly the bloodsuckers from Darkest Dungeon. Mosquitoes, leeches and ticks fit vampire themes so much! The perfect mix of decadence and absolute horror!
I've been writing a campaign meant to take place in the world which Ravenloft got scooped out of. There are multiple rival families of vampires all vying for the empty von Zarovich throne. Part of the way I'm distinguishing them is by giving each family a preferred emotion which they like to inflict on their victims before feeding on them to sort of "flavor" their blood. One family prefers to instill as much fear as possible, stalking their prey through the night, terrorizing them, haunting them, sometimes days at a time before striking when their fear is at its peak. Another prefers to seduce their victims, enticing and alluring them with their beautiful appearance and sensual promises, then draining their blood when they are most enraptured and their lust can no longer be contained.
@@fletcherw32 No, Ravenloft was not part of Faerun. I'm not sure if it was originally intended to have been part of Greyhawk, or some unspecified material plane world that the authors didn't elaborate on. For my purposes, I'm going with that and elaborating on it.
If the vampire is the rightful lord of the region, they gain a lot of additional avenues of attacking the party. They have actual guards and knights in their service that can act during the day, they own all buildings in the region, and they can drain common criminals for blood without arousing much suspicion. Also, play the vampire as an intelligent person with a dark side. The party could first encounter him/her as a benefactor; hiring the party to deal with bandits, poachers, or pirates; or sending them to spy on or counter rival nobles operations; and to kill random monsters that are causing him problems.
One thing I've implemented with my vampires is something akin to a life link ability. Whenever a vampire bites a victim, it establishes a link with that creature so that whenever the vampire is injured, the linked creature takes the same amount of damage. I find it helps with the action economy issue a bit, and also gives the vampire the means of controlling the players as a master puppeteer.
All the sub-vampires scream "Protect the Master!!", as the Vampire Lord gets hit. Players need to save vs fear to shake off the creepy feeling of their hive-mind.
I've TPK'd two separate parties with a Vampire Lord encounter. Not intended but satisfying to watch the party come across their prior characters as Vampires twisted and under the control of the Vampire Lord.
Some of those other RPGS and the powers that they give their vampires might make good alternative vampires for D&D too. Possibly vampires don't like going into the sun because their acute senses are dazzled by the bright light - but they won't die from it.
My favourite vampires are the blood dragon vampires of warhammer. They are fairly classic vampires and yet they're also very much not. I think warhammer in general does a good job with its vampires. It doesn't feel the need to do something radically diffrent bit no one is going to say "oh its just a vampire". They're going to say "Oh holy crap this is a vampire".
One of my favourite things to do with Vampires (More Specifically with Strahd Von Zarovich) is keep Forbiddance...but it doesn't apply in their kingdom. So for example, if the party duck into a house or building on unhallowed ground. He will simply ask "May I come in?" If they refuse, he goes in regardless But if they try this is Darkon and Strahd somehow followed them, Forbiddence is in effect
Looking back from your other videos. I could imagine a vampire being a 'greater 'muklak' where they use the mist abilities. A mist that can drink you blood and hide in a constant fog would be damned dangerous.
On the vampires and running water thing, I dont remember exactly which tradition it is but Ive seen it explained as stemming from the idea that they rise from graves and are tied to that earth that they were buried in, so oceans & running water such as rivers are bad for them because theyre arent connected to that ground while crossing the water.
Another reason l once read, is that since vampires are associated with death and decay, the fresh living water of running streams and oceans are inimical to their nature. Though, slow moving streams out of a swamp or bog probally wont affect them negatively, wich may become a nasty surprise for a party who think they managed to escape a pursuing vampire.
For example, in my Curse of Stradh game, I gave Stradh a second phase where he would equip his armor and become immune to sunlight, similar to Striga's day armor from the Castlevania series.
came across you guys on kickstarter. everything you do is so masterfully presented. I thought i was on the wrong youtube channel because so few subs compared to what id expect from such quality. cant wait to see you grow. I hope you can offer an "everything" package as i missed your previous kickstarters and would love to get my hands on all your physical books in a bundle. keep up the great stuff
Also. Speaking of vampires that eat whole bodies and what not . Japan actually has my favorite takes on. Look up Hellsing Ultimate or Tokyo Ghoul. Those are my favorite examples of vampires in media. So cool
I’ve upped my current Curse of Strahd game from level 10 to level 15 and altered Strahd’s statblock to make him CR 22, gave him a whole bunch of extra spells and mechanics based on controlling the land of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft itself. I also have a lot of experience roleplaying the character so I know his thought processes and his personality inside out… oh, and he has action surge. Needless to say, my players are pretty damn terrified of him! 😈 It also doesn’t help that one member of the party thought he could gain Strahd’s trust by just GIVING him the artefacts. This player was VERY toxic so I had to kick him out but his character is now an NPC and I am planning Strahd’s grand monologue about the illusion of power as he brutally murders the character for attempting something so foolish.
In regards to Exandria, or Faerun; or any world with a mutli-deity pantheon; is that, holy symbols should only affect the undead if it's of a deity who absolutely hates the undead, and possibly only when used by someone truly faithful to that god. Raven Queen, Kelemvor, Pelor.. While other gods might just be like, "Whatever. They're part of the world." or in some cases might even be rooting for the vampire. (looking at you, Myrkul and Bhaal) I also really liked the vulnerability to garlic take Bethesda did in Elder Scrolls Oblivion; where it's not vampires are allergic to garlic, it's that this particular vampire is allergic to garlic. xD I like making them weaker, but not vulnerable, to sunlight. Like they can't use the shadows for their powers, like way of shadow monks, or deep stalker rangers couldn't. The first time I heard about vampires being vulnerable to silver directly was in the Blade (Wesley Snipes) movie. And even then I was like, "uhhhh...pretty sure you just somehow mixed up werewolves and vampires, my dude..." That is definitely the first thing I drop. I'm definitely borrowing some of the ideas in this video. The pained victim forced to feed, wailing for the party to flee.. While another vampire they come across might play cat and mouse with the party, gleefully hunting and taking them down one by one. Also, don't care what anyone says, the story my wife and I came up with is too good; I'm allowing even a vampire to be a paladin. 😛 (under very special circumstances)
One should never ignore the fact that vampires rarely fight alone nor live and work alone. Usually there is a coven family or company if not all three built around slowly accumulating power. So it shouldn't be alone.
The only time I ever featured a vampire, it was supposed to be a later thing, but I set down some foreshadowing. My players thought that foreshadowing was a hook and just derp'd into it 3 levels early. A newly formed vampire and his one spawn had holed up under the inn's wine cellar and enthralled the man and woman running the inn. The players actually managed to kill them and claim the homebrewed MacGuffin I put in there before they were ever given the quest to retrieve it. The gnome druid had a real problem with human buildings after that. "Detect magic" traumatized that poor guy
There is also the native american Wendigo - which is an ancient evil spirit - Which posesses someone, driving then to Cannibalism and them haunts them. Inhabiting then in their madness until they are exorcised or the host is killed. But it doesnt destroy the spirit. Who may haunt the relatives and/or the exorcist. It essentially curses others to cannibalism wherever it goes. (Like creating vampire spawns). And is particularly powerful during winter, weakening during the summer.
I’ve got a Bloodpunk campaign where the ruling party are typical vampires, however I don’t care much for the “super douchey high society member” stereotype that most nobles are given so they’re usually around taking with people. However, the Primary enemies, which are based off of the other vampiric folklore creatures are called the Elders, since they were actually vampires via biology. The new rulers drank from “The Chalice” a large underground blood reservoir that gives life to almost everything, especially the flora, however water from rain and what not, does work as usual. But the current party were humans and elves before the Chalice, and then became Vampires. That was my explanation for why there were multiple variations and why some are more feral than the others (with the Elders being driven further underground and becoming more bestial, either in appearance or how they act). Mathias Cronqvist, the actual Dracula from the Castlevania series, not Vlad, is a good example of a Human becoming a Vampire. He’s not just the Vampire King, but he’s also called the Mao, or Demon Lord as he controls EVERYTHING related to the Night/Darkness/Chaos, that includes the Grim Reaper himself (the actual Grim Reaper not the elemental spirit that paraded around as the Grim Reaper from the show). Hell, Gabriel Belmont is an even better example. He’s extremely powerful, who contains abilities that would contradict each other. He’s both an undead abomination, who’s very existence is a mockery of god. But, he’s still God’s chosen warrior, so Holy weapons and Relics have little to no effect on him. He also has his normal magic, his holy magic that he was blessed with, and he also figured out how to bend the Void and Chaos itself to his will. The ranged Blood drain ability definitely sounds like something from the Legacy of Kain series. Which I love and use rather frequently.
The european vampire is originally born out of class critique and that Is something i bring with me when I run them. The disgust of the poor and human often seen in the bourgeoisie
Our homebrew setting has an entire continent ruled by a vampire who's an even bigger asshole than Strahd. He drank the blood of an outsider known as an exilios, so now he has power over time. He uses it to reset the timeline whenever he's about to be defeated, and successfully severed his entire continent from the Weave. He'll also use his temporal power for petty things, like pranking newly hired servants by doing the old stair trick from JJBA Part 3. But, he's growing bored with everything. He can predict every single pompous monologue, attempt at a sneak attack, and spat curse, and since he's not a god, he's keeps making mistakes when he hits the reset button - portions of the continent get stuck in temporal stasis or paradoxes.
I actually once made a vampire character for my player for one shot and that vampire had in bonds that he has to find and deal with vampire which turned him into vampire to stop him, while he rejected it and had in flaws that he cannot use his Bite ability only if he is on the edge of life. So it was quite funny in the end :D Sorry for my english for i am from Czech and i can tell you that your Upír pronunciation was on point. Good job and keep up good work. :)
Been playing a vampire PC homebrew since before the guide came out , followed the kickstarter and am now running a game in your setting. Love the content, guys. Keep up the great work
In another campaign, we took a semi-scientific approach to vampires. Rather than the soul roaming as it leaves the body behind to rot, it’s a body that roams as the soul is left behind to rot. It’s a powerful yet very unstable being. Kind of like a level 1 wizard trying to cast meteor swarm, a new vampire trying ancient level blood magic would most likely have that blow up in their face. However, through blood, the life force of the living, and time, they can grow more and more stable and experienced, expanding their capabilities. The sun also causes a violent reaction, as a life-producing entity is very harmful to the form of death, and prolonged exposure can cause the complete destruction of the vampire. They’re being untethered by a soul, yet simultaneously untamed by one. Should they go without blood for too long, they become more and more unstable, potentially even going feral. My dm really liked the idea.
The vampire myth also serves as a "critique" of class distinctions. Vampires typically embody the high class, being portrayed as pale (avoiding manual labor), wealthy, and characterized by long, well-manicured nails often associated with the upper echelons. They sustain themselves by consuming the blood of others, symbolizing the idea of the high class living off the labor of the lower classes. In the Balkans, the phrase "you drained my blood" is used to convey the notion of someone exhausting another person to the point of their demise for personal gain. Vampires adhere to their own set of rules and etiquette. They must be invited, avoid garlic, and abstain from swimming. They possess seductive qualities, which align with high-class tropes, and are often portrayed as degenerate, akin to the behavior of high-class nobility. This portrayal results in divine aversion, leading to vulnerabilities to holy water and silver, with silver's significance tied to Judas' betrayal. It's worth noting that the modern vampire myth finds its origins in Lord Byron, who inspired the character of Strahd, as revealed by Hickman.
The way I run them is that a stick to the heart doesn't kill them but it paralyzes them until it's removed. You can just do it if they're unconscious like if they're sleeping in their coffin, or if you get a critical hit against it with a wooden stake. And they're also extremely hard to kill. Like you could paralyze them with the steak and chain them up and put them in a nailed shut reinforced with iron coffin and they're basically done but they're still down buried beneath the ground somewhere. Vampire Spawn simply cannot be killed unless they're in direct sunlight. They will eventually regenerate. The regular higher CR vampires needs to be staked, then beheaded, then consecrated through the use of holy water, the spell Ceremony, or remove curse, all in direct sunlight.
I really appreciate your points of view, I'm currently working on an epic sci fi fantasy novel, and I was going to make a character the first vampire in the stories history, but I didn't want him to be the typical vampire clone we've seen recently. I want the character to be a ferocious, vile, and utterly terrifying threat that isn't going to be seen as just a "oh... it's a vampire" moment. You've given me a lot to think about, and I just wanted to say thanks for the change of views.
I really like your ideas! In my groups Curse of Strahd campaign 3 of the party members are vampires while 2 of us are mortals. The 3 vampires are Alexander Von Roeyen (younger brother of Strahd and Sergei Von Zarovich), Evelyn Sunstar (childhood friend of Alexander and daughter of the elf vampire Jander Sunstar) and Anthony Hunt (Michael Morbius experimental type of vampire). The two mortals are Zelda Alagondar, a half elf cleric princess and Kriv, a Dragonborn fighter with PTSD. During the campaign Zelda had to travel alone with these vampires, presumably for a few months. Over time, Zelda had to grapple with knowing her friends could kill her, that her blood was ideal for them because virgin blood is precious to vampires and much more. Likewise, her friends had to deal with Zelda being a cleric wielding the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, falling in love with a mortal etc. Alexander, especially has a lot to deal with! As mentioned before Alexander is the brother of Strahd in our game. This creates a moral dilemma for both him and Zelda, especially after Alexander started falling in love with Zelda and vice versa. Their relationship is a wholesome yet tragic romance that echos throughout the later half of the campaign. In short, they have to deal with more then the occasional bloodlust. Zelda is fully aware of how Strahd and Alexander are like mirror images of each other, or foils for one another. This makes things incredibly scary because of the love hate relationship she has with the brothers. Alexander loves her deeply while Strahd hates her with a passion. This dynamic is all the more evident when they do similar things. Every time Alexander falls into a blood lust, he gives Zelda a chance to escape but before she escapes, she sees Strahd’s face inside of Alexander’s eyes. The reverse happened when Strahd turned up the charm and tried to charm Evelyn. Long story short Zelda looked into the eyes of her enemy (Strahd) and saw the face of her lover (Alexander). This scene helped to solidify her perception that both brothers are two sides of the same coin.
I actually had one of my players start as a vampire in my campaign year ago, her character had a lover who would let her feed upon him, but over the course of the campaign I was going to have him slowly get sick and die as a result of the constant feeding. In my campaign there’s two ways a vampire can feed (inspired by Skyrim) leaching and draining, leach is when a vampire drinks a small amount of blood leaving the victim alive but with symptoms of blood loss. Draining is when a vampire sucks enough blood to kill the victim. A vampire who leaches regularly enough will only suffer slight skin irritation in sunlight and will look just like a normal human the only difference being abnormally high physical stats for the appearance. A vampire who regularly drains their victims however will gain access to more spells and powers associated with vampirism on the other hand they will be more and more vulnerable to sunlight their appearance will also change to look more like a vampire. If they don’t feed at all then they will suffer the penalties and appearance changes that happen when you constantly drain victims except they won’t get any of the spells and abilities, they also be super hungry meaning if they don’t won’t to attack someone they can see they’ll have to do a wisdom save.
In my dark campaign, I use Alps and Bruxae with edited vampire spawn statblocks. Whereas wights, edited death knights, edited skeletons and liches are all different types of draugr (d&d wights are almost literally draugr.). This makes everything scarier and makes the world feel better designed.
Really enjoying this content. I prefer Vampires that only have a weakness to holy water or holy symbols wielded by a true believer. Holy water burns them as if acid which they are vulnerable to and holy symbols can do the same in the right hands on contact as well as blind Vampires as with the Blind spell if they are within 30 feet of a symbol so activated (requires an action). Daylight only affects them by preventing them from shapechanging and normal water has no effect on them at all unless it's a still pool that reflects images (see below). Optionally, maybe confine daylight to only damaging Vampire Spawns while the older or more powerful Vampires and Vampire Lords aren't harmed by it. Similarly, staking a Vampire Spawn in the heart with a sharp piece of wood could destroy it or paralyze a Vampire but it but might only be a minor annoyance to a Vampire Lord. If you aren't a devout follower of a god or have access to one to supply the holy water, then you'd better stick to fire or magic when fighting them. Being within 10 feet of the reflecting surface of a mirror of medium size or larger can also cause Vampires to be at a disadvantage on all charisma and wisdom checks and saves, in addition to giving away their vampiric nature. Forbiddance applies to Vampire Spawns but only on the consecrated grounds of a church or temple or shrine for Vampires or Vampire Lords. Of course, if they are personally invited into such a protected space by a residing priest or cleric or holy person then they may enter at will forever after. Note that some very religious people do have shrines in their homes which would extend this protection to the entire abode while anyone who is a legal resident of such a house could invite a Vampire inside to negate it for that individual. Interestingly, this would mean that Vampire Spawns could enter a church but not Vampires or Vampire Lords since the divine forces consider them impossible to redeem and more of a threat. Instead of merely summoning rats, bats, or wolves with Children of the Night I'd say that Vampires can immediately summon 1d4 Vampire Spawns and Vampire Lords like Strahd can immediately summon 1d6 Vampires.
just starting but here's an idea. Every vampire was once a person and therefore each vampire is unique. When it comes to the sires, the full vampires who are powerful and command other vampires this is most important. Their character defines their powers and weaknesses. While all vampires* should be vulnerable to the blessed rays of the sun (sure you can throw a daywalker at them just to REALLY confuse the piss out of them) each clan of vampires, based on their sire, have their own powers, weaknesses, and dark curse. Maybe this group can survive immersion in water but this group is practically aquatic living in fetid bogs and rancid sewers, dragging their prey below to drown, feed, and embrace. I also really like the idea of a vampire tied to a gulthias tree, perhaps created by consume the vile fruit of this unholy plant in a ceremony to transform in the first place, with druidic powers in service to and in league with the necrotic tree that created them. No herb could stop this vampire, but metals certainly would... a silvered axe might be most handy for the vampire and the tree it tends. I also messed around with giving my sires a Mythic form (from Theros) so when they zero, they reset to a new health bar and take a new monstrous form as their veil of their mortal shell shatters in a bloody ascension and the monstrous fiend is revealed, each unique to the personality of the vampire.
The vampire thralls blending in with every day society, corrupted officials directing the actions of city guards, an immortality cult, and that's just the underlings of one of the vampires spawn. I think the actions humans take in service to vampires, the depth of depravity reached in search of power or avoidance of mortality makes vampires most terrifying as a Machiavellian schemer.
This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for when I bring a vampire to the Hollow World of Mystara. Because the Hollow Worlds sun isn't actual sunlight but a Gate to the Plane of Fire, it basically would be an unchecked predator in that living museum. Just using the basic 1e adventure but spicing it up with a vampire instead of the sun wight
The idea of the running water ties in to all undead myth. The dead cannot cross running water. The stronger they are, the better they can resist it. The same with fire. Because both running water and fire are associated with life. Hell, even in Tolkien lore the Nazgul feared water. And they're not even dead but more akin to half dead. When the dead do walk seek water’s run, for this the Dead will always shun. Swift river’s best or broadest lake to ward the dead and have and make. If water fails thee, fire’s thy friend, if neither guards it will be thy end. A little poem to remember it by. I believe Garth Nix did this one.
I thought the idea of staking revenants (vampires) was to nail them into their coffins? But usually, if the villagers are going to go that far they might also bury the suspected corpse at the crossroad, upside down, to disrupt their nighttime wanderings, and/or behead them. Also, silver being antithetical to monsters is an alchemy thing, due to silvers' symbolic purity and monsters' corruption. That's why silver can't reflect their image. So all other reflective surfaces still reflect their image.
“I have slept since the world was young. Since before your empires, kingdoms, and tribes. I remember the oceans were blue, I remember the forests were green and filled with song. I remember the sun baked mountains and the fresh air that moved between them. Yet now my world is painted in inky blacks and reds… As I look through my window out into the darkness of the world, I have not even my reflection in the glass to keep me company.” - Random vampire
I was about to make my suggestion on how to make my vampires more like normal people, but then I realized that this video is about making vampires terrifying so I’ll keep it to myself
I thought about a vampire Character type once. They were a newly transformed vampire who could survive in the sunlight, but only for about a week without feeding. I figured it was like a time limit, as long as they had fed once or twice a week, then they could handle the threat of the sunlight, but every day they didn't feed, the more they started being hurt by it, maybe even starting to smell like bacon.
The vampires in the world I am creating and playing in is called Ekana or Ekanumbra and is a mix between shapechangers who have no skin, vampires and an aberrant horror of sorts. It's pretty cool. They have a humanlike pointed tongue that can open up revealing three extending thin tentacle like prongs that can puncture flesh and suck out blood. While they are also highly intelligent and fight for power and survival of their species.
Playing off of the compulsive counting aspect, perhaps vampires impulsively find themselves drawn to be places like cellars, structures made of brick or storage areas as they provide many of the same objects to count.
I'm currently playing a cleric turned vampire who after loosing control drained his twin brother (a paladin). After the dreadful event he lost most of his night powers and started regaining some of his cleric abilities (dhampir). He fears that this change is only temporary and he once more will regress to be damned creature of the night again and won't be able to reach a for the art of true resurrection to bring his brother back.
"Scorched and burned into ashes" yeah tell that to rhe vampire who sits 2 pews away from you at church My favorite thing is just how many different vampire myths there are and how different they can be. Shane McDougal's Vampire Slayer's Field Guide to the Undead and Teresa Bane's Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology have been such great reads in my life
Here's my idea for a vampire race: -Ability Score Increase: Your Strength is increased by 1, and your Intelligence is increased by 2. You cannot raise either stat beyond 20. -Vampire Bite: Unarmed Strike is replaced with a bite attack that does 1d4 + prof + StrMod piercing damage. You will be healed by half of that damage. -Vampiric Regeneration: Every time you roll for hit dice to heal during a rest, you are healed by an additional amount equivalent to your level times 3, unless you were damaged by radiant, acid, or fire damage over the past 24 hours. -Vampiric Spellcasting: Starting at level 5, you can cast Gaseous Form on yourself a number of times equivalent to your proficiency bonus per day. Starting at level 9, you can cast Dominate Person a number of times equivalent to half of your proficiency bonus, rounded up, per day. -Darkvision: You can see in dim light and darkness as if it was bright light. However, you can only see up to 30 ft. away in bright light. -Sunlight Vulnerability: Being exposed to direct sunlight causes you to take 1d6 radiant damage when you enter it, and at the start of each of your turns. You can only be damaged by sunlight once per round. -Running Water: Being exposed to running water causes you to take 1d6 acid damage when you enter it, and at the start of each of your turns. You can only be damaged by running water once per round. -Undead Constitution: You are undead, and the rules of the undead apply to you. Those include a vulnerability to being turned, as well as immunities to being poisoned, poison damage, and necrotic damage.
You said you didn't understand why running water was a thing for this, it's same as vain as cruxifixes, religion. If you baptise a adult you generally (or at least historically) do it in a river, it washes away the past sins etc etc. But then people became pendantic and we're like "well uhhh, the tap is running water and so is trowing a bucket" and it became far more of a wierd weakness.
After whipping up my own vampire ive basically come up with my own rules for them. Vampires who have a certain amount of Spawn can sacrifice them to get rid of their sunlight sensitivity (yes, this was inspired by Cazador) As said in the video, Vampire's should have sanguine like abilities, bloood weapons, blood bending, or even pull some Blood hunter abilities
Silver in Alchemy is associated with the moon, which is why its effective against werewolves. Likewise Gold is a metal associated with the sun. In my campaign, anything made of gold harms a vampire. Gold is a soft metal so they're not very effective weapons, but they're enough to kill a vampire. A pouch of gold dust can be thrown in a vampires face, sticking to their skin and getting in their lungs, burning them from the inside and out.
one of my 1st campaign that i dm'd i had a vampire bbg who was looking for this spring of life so that he could get rid of his curse (vampirism). I didnt think it through thoroughly and the party just brought him to the spring so get rid of his vampirism. I never thought that he would ever make it to the spring cause he was the bbg but i had made his character reasonable and his underlings violent action couldve been thought as desperation, he didnt even kill anyone so i just sat there Pikachu faced and realized that my vampire bbg wasnt even bad
In earlier editions of dnd vampires in addition to wolves,rat and bats vampires can control their were-beast counterparts including them as the vampires minions can be used to expand on them.
One thing I work really hard on in my campaigns is to emphasize how infinitely more intelligent these ancient beings are like. When you've been alive for over a thousand years, hunted humans, studied them, and survived... these creatures are so alien in comparison to any mortal. Even the elves. In all honesty, I think that in intelligence and thinking scale, they should be somewhat comparable to dragons. Not to mention what that would o to their humanity. Living with the guilt and torture for so long, eventually they wouldn't even be recognizable as human anymore. They should either be so powerful that they can rule in the open unopposed. Or so good at hiding that players have to peel back layer after layer to find them. But that's just my two cents lol
I always liked that vampires didn't have a reflection. I like to play on that, they have lost their souls and have to live for eternity in that time they have mastered playing every instrument but can't create any new music, can copy any painting exactly but never find inspiration to make unique image, they have all the most fashionable clothes and biggest events but never quite big enough. Because they are soulless they are in a constant search for meaning but never find it, have contacts across globe and covens in the thousands but are more lonely than any creature has ever been. So some vampires are constantly searching, some have gone the other way and become feral and others have just choose to sleep millenia away and whoa to the o e that wakes them.
23:05 _"How do they cope with going into a civilized place knowing that they might try to kill any and all of the civilians living there?_ Sound like pretty standard adventurers' party behaviour to me.
My DM let's me inter stores and other shops without an invitation during running hours as there is a general "all welcome" law, however after hours? Stores closed and the invitations are revoked because clearly no one is invited in when the doors are closed
A lot of these vampire suggestions are really just like the World of Darkness vampires (which means they're good ideas!). Basically just look at World of Darkness vampires for formidable vampire ideas.
How about for subverting expectations, the vampire doesn't just leave the blood drained corpse at the scene of the crime, but actually goes out of their way to mutilate the body, or tamper the evidence so that it's not quite so obvious?
I like the idea of vampires being actual monsters. I like to write them as humans turned to monsters through disease or mutation(scientific or magical), and the longer they live as a vampire- the more corrupted their personalities become, enforcing whatever bad traits they already had. The person's original alignment turns more sinister, more monstrous- sometimes against their will. Eventually, what's left is a flesh-eating creature that's much more versatile and intelligent than say, a ghoul. Yet just as cruel and horrific- if not more, due to their intelligence and sadistic nature. To elaborate on the corruption of the personality, I'd have strong-willed people take longer to "turn" into a full on monster, perhaps only one of their negative traits would be heavily enforced, while their positive would slowly fade, leaving only a cold, hungry husk that still behaves "human". As for the weak-willed, they'd become the Strigoi- allowing their hunger to consume them, they turn into little more than glorified Ghouls, feasting on flesh and blood. Finally, for the strong-willed but evil natured, they would lose whatever good they had- while having all their negative traits reinforced, and whichever side of them most prominent before the transformation, will be enforced to an insane level. If they were known for their cruelty they would quickly become inhumanly cruel- to the point that their hunger and cruelty goes hand-in-hand(cruelty could be swapped out with sadism, gluttony, rage, etc). These types of vampires would become the monsters like Dracula, except he's pretty much an aight guy in comparison.
Just give the vampire a bunch of levels in a player class as well. Don’t worry about grapple/bite combo unless you get a thematic situation. Or just make bite a bonus action that isn’t lethal like Baldurs Gate lol
a good way to introduce a vampire is to expose the party to a npc who Quickly proves themselves to be stronger than the pc's but who the pc's like. he is to be shown to have a family, a wife and child, and to have gone out of his way multiple times to help the village: "when the crops failed 5 years ago, it was john who went out in winter every night in the ice and snow to hunt food so the orphans made it through the winter. it was hard on him and he lost a toe to frostbite, but all the kids now call him father" once john, hero of the village offers to guide the party to a ruin and john's wife and child make the party promise to bring him back safely, we john gets killed off: here's how: bbeg vampire: "well, if it isn't my old friend john, I told you if you showed your face here again i'd kill you and your family... so choose john... you, or your family, or I take both..." john: "go to hell you filthy bloodsucker, I don't need you anymore, it's time you paid for your crimes!" "laughter echoes around the room as a red mist circles the room and forms behind john, who is ahead of the party" bbeg vamp: "wrong decision" bbeg "makes an unarmed attack" (the roll is always successful) bbeg rams his fist up behind the chin into the skull of john, the force of the blow blasts the eyes out of the sockets, where they continue to hang as brains and blood spurt out through the sockets. the vampire moans as he licks the blood from the face of john, as if oblivious to the pc's presence for a moment, then turns to face the party. "you look like adventurers, i'll spare you to take this fool's body to a temple and have him raised, *rips eyes off and hurls the body down stairs at the party's feet.* "this is mine though" *he rips an arm off* I want the first news he gets to be news of his precious children... can you get there before me while carrying his body? don't worry, i'll walk to make it fair... *he starts walking slowly towards the party licking blood from his hand* dm: "His bloodlust and intent to kill are palpable, the ancient eyes simmer with malice and over it all, a voracious eternal hunger"
There's a lot of good stuff in this video, but I don't fully agree that you can't have one off vampire encounters. Having a random one near the entrance to an area ran by vampires can be a good way to introduce the players to the major threat. Like the "I can't help myself" guy would be a great introduction if the PCs found this guy hiding away in dark place, now seeing living people hunger overwhelms him. The PCs deal with that then make their way into the town where they begin to hear rumors about the current lords of the nearby castle. Also having a blood crazed feral vampire thats hunting solo despite the overlord's rules is a good introduction. Point is, at this point the PC will not be prepared at all for vampires which will make their first encounter difficult. I would definitely still change the vampire stat block since this should be done with almost any enemy creature. So after those changes, the PCs are free to stock up on whatever they *think* vampires are weak against because chances are only one of them will be correct or even applicable and it probably won't be enough to kill the head vampire anyways. Of course there shouldn't be one vampire either and if they're smart, they may also have other enemy types with them to cover the vampires weaknesses. Not to mention the RP, because combat isn't everything. The PCs can decide to talk to the reasonable vampires, if any, and learn ancient secrets about the world, which the RP alone can make the entire thing worth it even if they go down like a chump. On that note, you don't even have to make a vampire scary to make the players have an emotional response to them, they just have to be a threat. The vampires are killing and eating people or even the PCs, which can make the players invested enough to want to track down these menaces. Still great video!
I like the idea of going with the classic vampire as nobility trope, and then letting them enter any house because they actually own it. So this weakness only works when they are away from there center of political power, what if they leased the entire country to the founding royal house in perpetuity under the agreement that they would retain ownership of all lands and any subsequently gained lands.
13:00 Thats not correct a stake though the heart traditionally only keeps the vampire from rising. Sunlight weakens vampires in the original story rather than destroy it and running water only limits where they can go. In real world vampire lore there is no way to permanently destroy a vampire. Staking and burying is the most effective way to dispose of them but its not permanent
Real world lore has multiple permanent solutions. Decapitation and then anointing the head with holy water. Burning. Heck, the heart piercing trick is permanent as early as Brahm Stoker.
@Fredrik Dunge ymmv on that one. In fact, at least as early as Brahm Stoker, piercing the heart at all was a permanent kill, with older vampires disintegrating. And again, chopping off the head and anointing it with holy water or simply burning the corpse to ash were always permanent.
We can have the stereotypes but if someone is too bored and disturbed on, then why not make a new monster... Van Helsing and Underworld made enjoyable stereotypes but if you wanna new spin then try Dresden files undead and Game vamps like Lol elves and dwarves can be reimagined as well because mass effect made a good selection of sci fi species.
Their weakness to silver is actually why they have no reflection, mirrors were commonly silver-backed and the purity of silver wouldn't reflect the vampire
How to make vampires formidable again? Just buy and rip of the Dark Eye module „Unsterbliche Gier“. It’s insanely good. The only thing I would change is that the final confrontation can only happen during the new moon. That’s stupid.
Vryloka of 4e was much cooler than core vampire mentality. I find that core world lore doesn't work well as a usable or reusable lore. I build from its thought process but not the result of. There are more ways blood can fuel and have fueled attacks or mentalities for lore lines core worlds. The idea that the place of rest is secured and the actual monster is but a manifestation of that still resting form secured in its space, guarded by those that worship or serve it. Spectral forms, walking between worlds, or in dreams is always a fun aspect. A story within the story so to speak. Allure, paralyze, drain life, sustain life, resistance, and many more are ways that I really like to use vampires. Predators that linger with less, their biology less needed with digestion, and more with consumption of some thing. I made ones that feed on magic, defy life like a lich and their place of rest is their phylactery, walking on water, rotting wood, corrupting places of worship, charismatic influence. The range is so far. Times of the Blood moon brings out the most ancient, consuming to outlast the ages of a lasting world until the times of their purpose are prophesized. There has been very few movies that do vampire well for me, very few stories that do not just repeat the foundations. There are tidbits that I don't mind: servants, potential for horrific, durational life, consumption/starvation/gluttony all in different manners for sustained life/function. A real treat of a monster is ones we make our own. Have fun gaming.
The thing with monsters having a weakness to silver comes from the purifying nature of it. Silver has some form of an anti-bacterial effect, and due to being a precious metal, it doesn't oxidize like iron or tarnishes as easily as copper. That gave silver some mystical powers, amongst them the ability to cleanse the demonic.
That's why it was believed that Vampires don't reflect in mirrors or show up in photografs, because the silver would reject to show the unclean Soul of the Vampire (or at least that's the reason I was told).
My own rule for vampires:
There are generations, the more ancient the vampire is, the more formidable. Sure, crosses and garlic might work on the more recently transformed ones, but they will certainly not work on the ancient ones. The first generation vampires in my setting are not even afraid of sunlight. Sure it strips away a bit of their powers but they don't take damage from sunlight.
The expressions on my players' faces when I described one of the Elders casually flicks away their "holy water imbued arrows" and sliver weapons or whatnot, then sneer at them, stating something along the lines of "Is this all thine uncivilized folks could muster? How disappointing." was priceless since my players had been ignoring all the hints I dropped for them (a preacher killed in a church, witnesses saying that npcs are killed in the day...etc).
I generally run them the same way. Although I don't use holy symbols at all. Hallowed ground works though. And I do completely different and competing bloodlines
One thing most players ignore is hints and blunt in your face “I warned you! 😂”
Yeah vampire The masquerade is a good resource for vampires in dnd
Your grammar is incorrect.
Fun fact with Stake to the Heart: Often times this doens't *kill* the Vampire, it simply binds/seals the vampire, keeping it 'dead'/slumbering until such time as the stake is removed, and it returns to its coffin to regenerate.
So, if the players stake the vampire you can make them think its dead and bring the Vampire back as a possible twist villain in the future.
Oh yes, and one of the weaknesses from Dracula that never got mass adoption was the mention that a vampire could be trapped inside their coffin by placing a wild rose on it's lid. Though a magic rose drawing on this actually did show up in one early Ravenloft module back in Second edition.
1:56 *Unpredictable Players:* "Hmmm... Vampire is too obvious..." /begins to gear up to fight the chupacabra
As for Vampire weaknesses, I find it more interesting to subvert them when possible than to outright remove them. Curse of Strahd actually does an amazing job with this. Strahd is the old fashioned feudal lord of Barovia, so he technically owns all houses in the valley's towns. Barovia's vampires are hurt by sunlight, but Barovia's sky is totally and permanently overcast.
I really think Curse of Stradh would have worked better without the always darkness thing I think it would have made for an intresting cycle of tension and release.
@@DaDunge Personally I think that's a bit too predictable. I'd just have day and night have different dangers. You're never really safe unless you make it so, but it isn't always the dead of night. And not all the monsters have fangs. Yes everyone in the setting is Strahd's toy effectively, but there is a difference between being a source of amusement and having the dark lord of the realm take an active or even inactive interest in you.
Strahd can’t invade homes in Barovia RAW without invitation. The feudal lord clause is fanon. That’s a case of DM’s not wishing to work around a restriction. When he can just charm someone hundreds of times a day and demand to be invited inside.
I think Innistrad's Vampires are interesting as well.
An excerpt from Planeshift Innistrad:
"Weapons cut from living wood are particularly effective against vampires, though any weapon can harm or kill them. A vampire can’t cross running water that shows the reflection of the moon, and water blessed by Avacyn (holy water) burns vampire flesh like acid. A vampire’s reflection in silver (including a silver-backed glass mirror) appears as the vampire would have looked without the vampiric condition-neither its true appearance nor its glamer, but a normal human, flaws and all. For that reason, vampires go to great lengths to avoid mirrors, and the presence of silver in any form is unsettling to them."
They also don't have any weakness to the sun. The only weaknesses they have are listed above.
They're simpler, but the difference between player's expectations and reality could still be quite jarring.
I mean the Sunlight Sensitivity probably comes from heightened senses; it may cause discomfort but no real damage.
Using the vampire transformations from the GHCG, one of my players is currently a level 2 vampire, level 8 hexblade warlock and the tension at the table is palpable. He recently forgot about the “must feed every 7 days or else…” and just went on a feeding frenzy last session. The party spent the time role playing trying to stop him and him not being able to stop himself. Really good stuff and the character development for everyone is expanding in multiple layers.
That’s awesome!! Hyped to hear the transformations working as designed, and incredibly thematic for the vampire specifically.
Just as clarification: Bruxa is pronounced as the X in Mexico or Quixote.
As the χ in greek, it is a j/sh sound (depends on accent for regions) and very close to the english h.
Brujas/Bruxas would eat children to keep their youth, and are closer to hags in English folklore. A scary Bruxo was the Hombre del Saco (Man of the Sack) who would kidnap and eat or make soap out of kids that didn’t eat their veggies or misbehaved in any way. Shockingly enough for many, based in a true historical figure. Soap made of kids was claimed to keep the user young, so it did became popular among rich spaniards.
Pointy Hat has an idea where different types of vampires are associated with the seven deadly sins. (good video - check it out). I don't like the way he turns that into a stat block, however. For me, a powerful vampire has an always-on aura. Being in the presence of a vampire, especially in it's lair, should be suffocating in it's power. A lust vampire has a charm aura, a sloth vampire has a slow aura, a wrath vampire has a rage aura, a gluttony vampire has a hunger aura, and so on. These effects should smother the players, making it hard for them to think and act as their normal selves. I would theme each vampire with related abilities - perhaps the wrath vampire has a berserk form, the lust vampire is horrendously proficient at grappling, a greed vampire is loaded with magic items it can use to defend itself, the envy vampire can use players' abilities against them, etc.
As a European I see a lot of people mistaken what running water means. Running water is just rivers and streams. Also balkan vampires are more like a demon/werewolf/corpses. Imagine something like a zombie shifter that is like an animal. Essentialy the demon ocupies a corpse
I always liked the idea that both all of the tropes are true and none of them are. You never know which restrictions apply to a given vampire until they're tested. Keep the players on their toes and cautious about how they approach testing whether someone's a vampire or not. If they overplay their hand, they tip off the vampire that they suspect them and fail to make a determination for themselves.
My thoughts exactly, have the listed weaknesses be all possible but don't necessarily apply to every single vampire. They may have completely different weaknesses, some that may exist because of the lives they lead before such as a former priest of a lunar god being vulnerable to the light of the full moon instead of sunlight. Keep the players on their toes and make each vampire unique, needing research and caution to confront.
Two new vampire ideas: 1. The vampire is a corpse that never leaves the grave. Instead it's blood drinking ghost comes each night, reforming every time it's destroyed. 2. A sun vampire that births from flame in the day. Its bite gives creative inspiration but also obsession until the victim literally bursts into flame and burns out.
Love both of these! Idea 1 ties into some ideas going into an incorporeal undead video we’ve got coming up soon.
Idea 1 reminds me of the Nachzehrer. I'm not sure, if I remember this correctly, but from what I remember, they stay in their grave, and eat/bite the robe/cloth they were burried in, thereby causing illness and suffering in their remaining family, which sustains them (I think they also can cause bad luck to their victims).
So maybe they cause psychic damage instead of necrotic, while they slowly eat away at their still living families sanity and will to live.
Maybe you can build in a twist, like the Vampire that doesn't want to hurt people, but can't help but doing it. Maybe this creature reforms each time it is destroyed, because it's cursed. Maybe they were raised in a very poor family, but discovered that they were actually the illegitimate child of a wealthy local noble, and when they confronted that Noble, they were killed by them (so the noble wouldn't lose face in the public) and now they are cursed to the existance of an undead Monster, unable to communicate with anyone, but trying to tell people the truth of their death. And due to the curse, all family, close and extended, in this and several surrounding settlements (so a lot of people), are at risk. So the PCs get on the case, defeating the monster, but then it comes back, and they slowly learn what this creature and its effects are. And maybe they begin to wonder, why the local noble suddenly seems so religious and has such bad fortune, when the curse only affects those related to the one that turned into the Monster?
That second one is wild. Giving people literally burnout. Might need to use that one someday.
The range blood drain attack actually has a mythology connection to Asian Chinese vampires
Love the idea of turning one of the party. Then if the party confronst the elder vampire he can chide the turned player: "Foolish boy! dont you know not to name your food?"
Hmm, actually this makes me remember the Undead rulebook from Third edition, where while going over the fundamental negatives of being undead, one thing that came up was all the spells and evil priest powers to command undead. Since unlike spells used to command living people, there were no extra resistances or additional saves for going against personal morality etc, and it was also explicitly stated that the undead never felt upset or angry over being commanded.
Which honestly could be a truly horrific moment, either a party member, or an associated friendly undead npc being subjected to a command and afterward having to admit that their not freaked out over what they did but over the fact that they can't feel any remorse over what they did.
My favorite redefined vampires are definetly the bloodsuckers from Darkest Dungeon. Mosquitoes, leeches and ticks fit vampire themes so much! The perfect mix of decadence and absolute horror!
I've been writing a campaign meant to take place in the world which Ravenloft got scooped out of. There are multiple rival families of vampires all vying for the empty von Zarovich throne. Part of the way I'm distinguishing them is by giving each family a preferred emotion which they like to inflict on their victims before feeding on them to sort of "flavor" their blood. One family prefers to instill as much fear as possible, stalking their prey through the night, terrorizing them, haunting them, sometimes days at a time before striking when their fear is at its peak. Another prefers to seduce their victims, enticing and alluring them with their beautiful appearance and sensual promises, then draining their blood when they are most enraptured and their lust can no longer be contained.
Do you mean Faerun?
@@fletcherw32 No, Ravenloft was not part of Faerun. I'm not sure if it was originally intended to have been part of Greyhawk, or some unspecified material plane world that the authors didn't elaborate on. For my purposes, I'm going with that and elaborating on it.
If the vampire is the rightful lord of the region, they gain a lot of additional avenues of attacking the party. They have actual guards and knights in their service that can act during the day, they own all buildings in the region, and they can drain common criminals for blood without arousing much suspicion. Also, play the vampire as an intelligent person with a dark side. The party could first encounter him/her as a benefactor; hiring the party to deal with bandits, poachers, or pirates; or sending them to spy on or counter rival nobles operations; and to kill random monsters that are causing him problems.
One thing I've implemented with my vampires is something akin to a life link ability. Whenever a vampire bites a victim, it establishes a link with that creature so that whenever the vampire is injured, the linked creature takes the same amount of damage. I find it helps with the action economy issue a bit, and also gives the vampire the means of controlling the players as a master puppeteer.
All the sub-vampires scream "Protect the Master!!", as the Vampire Lord gets hit. Players need to save vs fear to shake off the creepy feeling of their hive-mind.
I've TPK'd two separate parties with a Vampire Lord encounter. Not intended but satisfying to watch the party come across their prior characters as Vampires twisted and under the control of the Vampire Lord.
It is always fun to throw back the previous party at the players 😅
Some of those other RPGS and the powers that they give their vampires might make good alternative vampires for D&D too. Possibly vampires don't like going into the sun because their acute senses are dazzled by the bright light - but they won't die from it.
My favourite vampires are the blood dragon vampires of warhammer.
They are fairly classic vampires and yet they're also very much not. I think warhammer in general does a good job with its vampires. It doesn't feel the need to do something radically diffrent bit no one is going to say "oh its just a vampire". They're going to say "Oh holy crap this is a vampire".
One of my favourite things to do with Vampires (More Specifically with Strahd Von Zarovich) is keep Forbiddance...but it doesn't apply in their kingdom. So for example, if the party duck into a house or building on unhallowed ground. He will simply ask "May I come in?" If they refuse, he goes in regardless
But if they try this is Darkon and Strahd somehow followed them, Forbiddence is in effect
Looking back from your other videos. I could imagine a vampire being a 'greater 'muklak' where they use the mist abilities. A mist that can drink you blood and hide in a constant fog would be damned dangerous.
On the vampires and running water thing, I dont remember exactly which tradition it is but Ive seen it explained as stemming from the idea that they rise from graves and are tied to that earth that they were buried in, so oceans & running water such as rivers are bad for them because theyre arent connected to that ground while crossing the water.
In many world mythologies, especially western, evil spirits are not able to cross running water. The vampire, being such a spirit, can't do it either.
Another reason l once read, is that since vampires are associated with death and decay, the fresh living water of running streams and oceans are inimical to their nature. Though, slow moving streams out of a swamp or bog probally wont affect them negatively, wich may become a nasty surprise for a party who think they managed to escape a pursuing vampire.
This should definitely help once my party gets deeper into Fabels. Can't wait to TPK them with your advice🥰
I may not love vampires like you do but I have always respected them.
For example, in my Curse of Stradh game, I gave Stradh a second phase where he would equip his armor and become immune to sunlight, similar to Striga's day armor from the Castlevania series.
came across you guys on kickstarter. everything you do is so masterfully presented. I thought i was on the wrong youtube channel because so few subs compared to what id expect from such quality. cant wait to see you grow. I hope you can offer an "everything" package as i missed your previous kickstarters and would love to get my hands on all your physical books in a bundle. keep up the great stuff
Searched "ghostfire gaming vampire" last month and was shocked at the lack of videos. Today is a welcome surprise!
More videos are coming now every week :)
Also. Speaking of vampires that eat whole bodies and what not . Japan actually has my favorite takes on. Look up Hellsing Ultimate or Tokyo Ghoul. Those are my favorite examples of vampires in media. So cool
I’ve upped my current Curse of Strahd game from level 10 to level 15 and altered Strahd’s statblock to make him CR 22, gave him a whole bunch of extra spells and mechanics based on controlling the land of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft itself. I also have a lot of experience roleplaying the character so I know his thought processes and his personality inside out… oh, and he has action surge. Needless to say, my players are pretty damn terrified of him! 😈
It also doesn’t help that one member of the party thought he could gain Strahd’s trust by just GIVING him the artefacts. This player was VERY toxic so I had to kick him out but his character is now an NPC and I am planning Strahd’s grand monologue about the illusion of power as he brutally murders the character for attempting something so foolish.
In regards to Exandria, or Faerun; or any world with a mutli-deity pantheon; is that, holy symbols should only affect the undead if it's of a deity who absolutely hates the undead, and possibly only when used by someone truly faithful to that god. Raven Queen, Kelemvor, Pelor..
While other gods might just be like, "Whatever. They're part of the world." or in some cases might even be rooting for the vampire. (looking at you, Myrkul and Bhaal)
I also really liked the vulnerability to garlic take Bethesda did in Elder Scrolls Oblivion; where it's not vampires are allergic to garlic, it's that this particular vampire is allergic to garlic. xD
I like making them weaker, but not vulnerable, to sunlight. Like they can't use the shadows for their powers, like way of shadow monks, or deep stalker rangers couldn't.
The first time I heard about vampires being vulnerable to silver directly was in the Blade (Wesley Snipes) movie. And even then I was like, "uhhhh...pretty sure you just somehow mixed up werewolves and vampires, my dude..." That is definitely the first thing I drop.
I'm definitely borrowing some of the ideas in this video. The pained victim forced to feed, wailing for the party to flee.. While another vampire they come across might play cat and mouse with the party, gleefully hunting and taking them down one by one.
Also, don't care what anyone says, the story my wife and I came up with is too good; I'm allowing even a vampire to be a paladin. 😛 (under very special circumstances)
One should never ignore the fact that vampires rarely fight alone nor live and work alone. Usually there is a coven family or company if not all three built around slowly accumulating power. So it shouldn't be alone.
Or as in warhammer as Lords of the undead.
Possibly including mortal minions
Nice work on the bloody video!
The only time I ever featured a vampire, it was supposed to be a later thing, but I set down some foreshadowing. My players thought that foreshadowing was a hook and just derp'd into it 3 levels early. A newly formed vampire and his one spawn had holed up under the inn's wine cellar and enthralled the man and woman running the inn. The players actually managed to kill them and claim the homebrewed MacGuffin I put in there before they were ever given the quest to retrieve it. The gnome druid had a real problem with human buildings after that. "Detect magic" traumatized that poor guy
There is also the native american Wendigo - which is an ancient evil spirit - Which posesses someone, driving then to Cannibalism and them haunts them. Inhabiting then in their madness until they are exorcised or the host is killed. But it doesnt destroy the spirit. Who may haunt the relatives and/or the exorcist. It essentially curses others to cannibalism wherever it goes. (Like creating vampire spawns). And is particularly powerful during winter, weakening during the summer.
I’ve got a Bloodpunk campaign where the ruling party are typical vampires, however I don’t care much for the “super douchey high society member” stereotype that most nobles are given so they’re usually around taking with people. However, the Primary enemies, which are based off of the other vampiric folklore creatures are called the Elders, since they were actually vampires via biology. The new rulers drank from “The Chalice” a large underground blood reservoir that gives life to almost everything, especially the flora, however water from rain and what not, does work as usual. But the current party were humans and elves before the Chalice, and then became Vampires. That was my explanation for why there were multiple variations and why some are more feral than the others (with the Elders being driven further underground and becoming more bestial, either in appearance or how they act).
Mathias Cronqvist, the actual Dracula from the Castlevania series, not Vlad, is a good example of a Human becoming a Vampire. He’s not just the Vampire King, but he’s also called the Mao, or Demon Lord as he controls EVERYTHING related to the Night/Darkness/Chaos, that includes the Grim Reaper himself (the actual Grim Reaper not the elemental spirit that paraded around as the Grim Reaper from the show). Hell, Gabriel Belmont is an even better example. He’s extremely powerful, who contains abilities that would contradict each other. He’s both an undead abomination, who’s very existence is a mockery of god. But, he’s still God’s chosen warrior, so Holy weapons and Relics have little to no effect on him. He also has his normal magic, his holy magic that he was blessed with, and he also figured out how to bend the Void and Chaos itself to his will.
The ranged Blood drain ability definitely sounds like something from the Legacy of Kain series. Which I love and use rather frequently.
Imagine a vampire just converting things into vampires for the hell of it (and speculating the havoc the cause, and sipping on the casualties)
The european vampire is originally born out of class critique and that Is something i bring with me when I run them. The disgust of the poor and human often seen in the bourgeoisie
Our homebrew setting has an entire continent ruled by a vampire who's an even bigger asshole than Strahd. He drank the blood of an outsider known as an exilios, so now he has power over time. He uses it to reset the timeline whenever he's about to be defeated, and successfully severed his entire continent from the Weave. He'll also use his temporal power for petty things, like pranking newly hired servants by doing the old stair trick from JJBA Part 3. But, he's growing bored with everything. He can predict every single pompous monologue, attempt at a sneak attack, and spat curse, and since he's not a god, he's keeps making mistakes when he hits the reset button - portions of the continent get stuck in temporal stasis or paradoxes.
I actually once made a vampire character for my player for one shot and that vampire had in bonds that he has to find and deal with vampire which turned him into vampire to stop him, while he rejected it and had in flaws that he cannot use his Bite ability only if he is on the edge of life. So it was quite funny in the end :D Sorry for my english for i am from Czech and i can tell you that your Upír pronunciation was on point. Good job and keep up good work. :)
Been playing a vampire PC homebrew since before the guide came out , followed the kickstarter and am now running a game in your setting. Love the content, guys. Keep up the great work
In another campaign, we took a semi-scientific approach to vampires. Rather than the soul roaming as it leaves the body behind to rot, it’s a body that roams as the soul is left behind to rot.
It’s a powerful yet very unstable being. Kind of like a level 1 wizard trying to cast meteor swarm, a new vampire trying ancient level blood magic would most likely have that blow up in their face. However, through blood, the life force of the living, and time, they can grow more and more stable and experienced, expanding their capabilities. The sun also causes a violent reaction, as a life-producing entity is very harmful to the form of death, and prolonged exposure can cause the complete destruction of the vampire.
They’re being untethered by a soul, yet simultaneously untamed by one. Should they go without blood for too long, they become more and more unstable, potentially even going feral. My dm really liked the idea.
The vampire myth also serves as a "critique" of class distinctions. Vampires typically embody the high class, being portrayed as pale (avoiding manual labor), wealthy, and characterized by long, well-manicured nails often associated with the upper echelons. They sustain themselves by consuming the blood of others, symbolizing the idea of the high class living off the labor of the lower classes. In the Balkans, the phrase "you drained my blood" is used to convey the notion of someone exhausting another person to the point of their demise for personal gain.
Vampires adhere to their own set of rules and etiquette. They must be invited, avoid garlic, and abstain from swimming. They possess seductive qualities, which align with high-class tropes, and are often portrayed as degenerate, akin to the behavior of high-class nobility. This portrayal results in divine aversion, leading to vulnerabilities to holy water and silver, with silver's significance tied to Judas' betrayal.
It's worth noting that the modern vampire myth finds its origins in Lord Byron, who inspired the character of Strahd, as revealed by Hickman.
The way I run them is that a stick to the heart doesn't kill them but it paralyzes them until it's removed. You can just do it if they're unconscious like if they're sleeping in their coffin, or if you get a critical hit against it with a wooden stake.
And they're also extremely hard to kill. Like you could paralyze them with the steak and chain them up and put them in a nailed shut reinforced with iron coffin and they're basically done but they're still down buried beneath the ground somewhere.
Vampire Spawn simply cannot be killed unless they're in direct sunlight. They will eventually regenerate.
The regular higher CR vampires needs to be staked, then beheaded, then consecrated through the use of holy water, the spell Ceremony, or remove curse, all in direct sunlight.
I really appreciate your points of view, I'm currently working on an epic sci fi fantasy novel, and I was going to make a character the first vampire in the stories history, but I didn't want him to be the typical vampire clone we've seen recently. I want the character to be a ferocious, vile, and utterly terrifying threat that isn't going to be seen as just a "oh... it's a vampire" moment. You've given me a lot to think about, and I just wanted to say thanks for the change of views.
I really like your ideas! In my groups Curse of Strahd campaign 3 of the party members are vampires while 2 of us are mortals. The 3 vampires are Alexander Von Roeyen (younger brother of Strahd and Sergei Von Zarovich), Evelyn Sunstar (childhood friend of Alexander and daughter of the elf vampire Jander Sunstar) and Anthony Hunt (Michael Morbius experimental type of vampire). The two mortals are Zelda Alagondar, a half elf cleric princess and Kriv, a Dragonborn fighter with PTSD. During the campaign Zelda had to travel alone with these vampires, presumably for a few months. Over time, Zelda had to grapple with knowing her friends could kill her, that her blood was ideal for them because virgin blood is precious to vampires and much more. Likewise, her friends had to deal with Zelda being a cleric wielding the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, falling in love with a mortal etc. Alexander, especially has a lot to deal with! As mentioned before Alexander is the brother of Strahd in our game. This creates a moral dilemma for both him and Zelda, especially after Alexander started falling in love with Zelda and vice versa. Their relationship is a wholesome yet tragic romance that echos throughout the later half of the campaign. In short, they have to deal with more then the occasional bloodlust. Zelda is fully aware of how Strahd and Alexander are like mirror images of each other, or foils for one another. This makes things incredibly scary because of the love hate relationship she has with the brothers. Alexander loves her deeply while Strahd hates her with a passion. This dynamic is all the more evident when they do similar things. Every time Alexander falls into a blood lust, he gives Zelda a chance to escape but before she escapes, she sees Strahd’s face inside of Alexander’s eyes. The reverse happened when Strahd turned up the charm and tried to charm Evelyn. Long story short Zelda looked into the eyes of her enemy (Strahd) and saw the face of her lover (Alexander). This scene helped to solidify her perception that both brothers are two sides of the same coin.
I actually had one of my players start as a vampire in my campaign year ago, her character had a lover who would let her feed upon him, but over the course of the campaign I was going to have him slowly get sick and die as a result of the constant feeding. In my campaign there’s two ways a vampire can feed (inspired by Skyrim) leaching and draining, leach is when a vampire drinks a small amount of blood leaving the victim alive but with symptoms of blood loss. Draining is when a vampire sucks enough blood to kill the victim. A vampire who leaches regularly enough will only suffer slight skin irritation in sunlight and will look just like a normal human the only difference being abnormally high physical stats for the appearance. A vampire who regularly drains their victims however will gain access to more spells and powers associated with vampirism on the other hand they will be more and more vulnerable to sunlight their appearance will also change to look more like a vampire. If they don’t feed at all then they will suffer the penalties and appearance changes that happen when you constantly drain victims except they won’t get any of the spells and abilities, they also be super hungry meaning if they don’t won’t to attack someone they can see they’ll have to do a wisdom save.
In my dark campaign, I use Alps and Bruxae with edited vampire spawn statblocks. Whereas wights, edited death knights, edited skeletons and liches are all different types of draugr (d&d wights are almost literally draugr.). This makes everything scarier and makes the world feel better designed.
Really enjoying this content.
I prefer Vampires that only have a weakness to holy water or holy symbols wielded by a true believer. Holy water burns them as if acid which they are vulnerable to and holy symbols can do the same in the right hands on contact as well as blind Vampires as with the Blind spell if they are within 30 feet of a symbol so activated (requires an action). Daylight only affects them by preventing them from shapechanging and normal water has no effect on them at all unless it's a still pool that reflects images (see below).
Optionally, maybe confine daylight to only damaging Vampire Spawns while the older or more powerful Vampires and Vampire Lords aren't harmed by it. Similarly, staking a Vampire Spawn in the heart with a sharp piece of wood could destroy it or paralyze a Vampire but it but might only be a minor annoyance to a Vampire Lord.
If you aren't a devout follower of a god or have access to one to supply the holy water, then you'd better stick to fire or magic when fighting them. Being within 10 feet of the reflecting surface of a mirror of medium size or larger can also cause Vampires to be at a disadvantage on all charisma and wisdom checks and saves, in addition to giving away their vampiric nature.
Forbiddance applies to Vampire Spawns but only on the consecrated grounds of a church or temple or shrine for Vampires or Vampire Lords. Of course, if they are personally invited into such a protected space by a residing priest or cleric or holy person then they may enter at will forever after. Note that some very religious people do have shrines in their homes which would extend this protection to the entire abode while anyone who is a legal resident of such a house could invite a Vampire inside to negate it for that individual. Interestingly, this would mean that Vampire Spawns could enter a church but not Vampires or Vampire Lords since the divine forces consider them impossible to redeem and more of a threat.
Instead of merely summoning rats, bats, or wolves with Children of the Night I'd say that Vampires can immediately summon 1d4 Vampire Spawns and Vampire Lords like Strahd can immediately summon 1d6 Vampires.
just starting but here's an idea. Every vampire was once a person and therefore each vampire is unique. When it comes to the sires, the full vampires who are powerful and command other vampires this is most important. Their character defines their powers and weaknesses. While all vampires* should be vulnerable to the blessed rays of the sun (sure you can throw a daywalker at them just to REALLY confuse the piss out of them) each clan of vampires, based on their sire, have their own powers, weaknesses, and dark curse. Maybe this group can survive immersion in water but this group is practically aquatic living in fetid bogs and rancid sewers, dragging their prey below to drown, feed, and embrace.
I also really like the idea of a vampire tied to a gulthias tree, perhaps created by consume the vile fruit of this unholy plant in a ceremony to transform in the first place, with druidic powers in service to and in league with the necrotic tree that created them. No herb could stop this vampire, but metals certainly would... a silvered axe might be most handy for the vampire and the tree it tends.
I also messed around with giving my sires a Mythic form (from Theros) so when they zero, they reset to a new health bar and take a new monstrous form as their veil of their mortal shell shatters in a bloody ascension and the monstrous fiend is revealed, each unique to the personality of the vampire.
I almost wanna make a vampire that’s inspired by pennywise from IT. Something that will squeeze you of every last drop of fear and then it kills you.
The vampire thralls blending in with every day society, corrupted officials directing the actions of city guards, an immortality cult, and that's just the underlings of one of the vampires spawn. I think the actions humans take in service to vampires, the depth of depravity reached in search of power or avoidance of mortality makes vampires most terrifying as a Machiavellian schemer.
This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for when I bring a vampire to the Hollow World of Mystara. Because the Hollow Worlds sun isn't actual sunlight but a Gate to the Plane of Fire, it basically would be an unchecked predator in that living museum. Just using the basic 1e adventure but spicing it up with a vampire instead of the sun wight
The idea of the running water ties in to all undead myth.
The dead cannot cross running water.
The stronger they are, the better they can resist it.
The same with fire.
Because both running water and fire are associated with life.
Hell, even in Tolkien lore the Nazgul feared water.
And they're not even dead but more akin to half dead.
When the dead do walk seek water’s run,
for this the Dead will always shun.
Swift river’s best or broadest lake
to ward the dead and have and make.
If water fails thee, fire’s thy friend,
if neither guards it will be thy end.
A little poem to remember it by.
I believe Garth Nix did this one.
I thought the idea of staking revenants (vampires) was to nail them into their coffins? But usually, if the villagers are going to go that far they might also bury the suspected corpse at the crossroad, upside down, to disrupt their nighttime wanderings, and/or behead them. Also, silver being antithetical to monsters is an alchemy thing, due to silvers' symbolic purity and monsters' corruption. That's why silver can't reflect their image. So all other reflective surfaces still reflect their image.
“I have slept since the world was young.
Since before your empires, kingdoms, and tribes.
I remember the oceans were blue, I remember the forests were green and filled with song.
I remember the sun baked mountains and the fresh air that moved between them.
Yet now my world is painted in inky blacks and reds…
As I look through my window out into the darkness of the world, I have not even my reflection in the glass to keep me company.” - Random vampire
I was about to make my suggestion on how to make my vampires more like normal people, but then I realized that this video is about making vampires terrifying so I’ll keep it to myself
I thought about a vampire Character type once. They were a newly transformed vampire who could survive in the sunlight, but only for about a week without feeding. I figured it was like a time limit, as long as they had fed once or twice a week, then they could handle the threat of the sunlight, but every day they didn't feed, the more they started being hurt by it, maybe even starting to smell like bacon.
I use vampires as pcs, help the party with a cost, help the dm world build
The vampires in the world I am creating and playing in is called Ekana or Ekanumbra and is a mix between shapechangers who have no skin, vampires and an aberrant horror of sorts. It's pretty cool. They have a humanlike pointed tongue that can open up revealing three extending thin tentacle like prongs that can puncture flesh and suck out blood. While they are also highly intelligent and fight for power and survival of their species.
I’m patiently waiting for my monster grimoire
Playing off of the compulsive counting aspect, perhaps vampires impulsively find themselves drawn to be places like cellars, structures made of brick or storage areas as they provide many of the same objects to count.
I'm currently playing a cleric turned vampire who after loosing control drained his twin brother (a paladin). After the dreadful event he lost most of his night powers and started regaining some of his cleric abilities (dhampir). He fears that this change is only temporary and he once more will regress to be damned creature of the night again and won't be able to reach a for the art of true resurrection to bring his brother back.
Oh crap! (Throws bucket of oats on the ground)
(Frothing, feral vampire stops, looks down, and immediately turns into the Count from Sesame Street)
"Scorched and burned into ashes" yeah tell that to rhe vampire who sits 2 pews away from you at church
My favorite thing is just how many different vampire myths there are and how different they can be. Shane McDougal's Vampire Slayer's Field Guide to the Undead and Teresa Bane's Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology have been such great reads in my life
Bruxa literally means witch
Here's my idea for a vampire race:
-Ability Score Increase: Your Strength is increased by 1, and your Intelligence is increased by 2. You cannot raise either stat beyond 20.
-Vampire Bite: Unarmed Strike is replaced with a bite attack that does 1d4 + prof + StrMod piercing damage. You will be healed by half of that damage.
-Vampiric Regeneration: Every time you roll for hit dice to heal during a rest, you are healed by an additional amount equivalent to your level times 3, unless you were damaged by radiant, acid, or fire damage over the past 24 hours.
-Vampiric Spellcasting: Starting at level 5, you can cast Gaseous Form on yourself a number of times equivalent to your proficiency bonus per day. Starting at level 9, you can cast Dominate Person a number of times equivalent to half of your proficiency bonus, rounded up, per day.
-Darkvision: You can see in dim light and darkness as if it was bright light. However, you can only see up to 30 ft. away in bright light.
-Sunlight Vulnerability: Being exposed to direct sunlight causes you to take 1d6 radiant damage when you enter it, and at the start of each of your turns. You can only be damaged by sunlight once per round.
-Running Water: Being exposed to running water causes you to take 1d6 acid damage when you enter it, and at the start of each of your turns. You can only be damaged by running water once per round.
-Undead Constitution: You are undead, and the rules of the undead apply to you. Those include a vulnerability to being turned, as well as immunities to being poisoned, poison damage, and necrotic damage.
You said you didn't understand why running water was a thing for this, it's same as vain as cruxifixes, religion. If you baptise a adult you generally (or at least historically) do it in a river, it washes away the past sins etc etc. But then people became pendantic and we're like "well uhhh, the tap is running water and so is trowing a bucket" and it became far more of a wierd weakness.
After whipping up my own vampire ive basically come up with my own rules for them.
Vampires who have a certain amount of Spawn can sacrifice them to get rid of their sunlight sensitivity (yes, this was inspired by Cazador)
As said in the video, Vampire's should have sanguine like abilities, bloood weapons, blood bending, or even pull some Blood hunter abilities
I know this is an old video but vampire the masquerade video games have a variety of unique and different forms of vampires.
Silver in Alchemy is associated with the moon, which is why its effective against werewolves. Likewise Gold is a metal associated with the sun. In my campaign, anything made of gold harms a vampire. Gold is a soft metal so they're not very effective weapons, but they're enough to kill a vampire. A pouch of gold dust can be thrown in a vampires face, sticking to their skin and getting in their lungs, burning them from the inside and out.
one of my 1st campaign that i dm'd i had a vampire bbg who was looking for this spring of life so that he could get rid of his curse (vampirism). I didnt think it through thoroughly and the party just brought him to the spring so get rid of his vampirism. I never thought that he would ever make it to the spring cause he was the bbg but i had made his character reasonable and his underlings violent action couldve been thought as desperation, he didnt even kill anyone so i just sat there Pikachu faced and realized that my vampire bbg wasnt even bad
In earlier editions of dnd vampires in addition to wolves,rat and bats vampires can control their were-beast counterparts including them as the vampires minions can be used to expand on them.
I would LOVE to play at your table.
One thing I work really hard on in my campaigns is to emphasize how infinitely more intelligent these ancient beings are like. When you've been alive for over a thousand years, hunted humans, studied them, and survived... these creatures are so alien in comparison to any mortal. Even the elves. In all honesty, I think that in intelligence and thinking scale, they should be somewhat comparable to dragons. Not to mention what that would o to their humanity. Living with the guilt and torture for so long, eventually they wouldn't even be recognizable as human anymore.
They should either be so powerful that they can rule in the open unopposed. Or so good at hiding that players have to peel back layer after layer to find them. But that's just my two cents lol
This is an amazing video for vampires.
My players will hate you.
6:57 this sounds like a actual creature that lived at one time
I always liked that vampires didn't have a reflection. I like to play on that, they have lost their souls and have to live for eternity in that time they have mastered playing every instrument but can't create any new music, can copy any painting exactly but never find inspiration to make unique image, they have all the most fashionable clothes and biggest events but never quite big enough. Because they are soulless they are in a constant search for meaning but never find it, have contacts across globe and covens in the thousands but are more lonely than any creature has ever been. So some vampires are constantly searching, some have gone the other way and become feral and others have just choose to sleep millenia away and whoa to the o e that wakes them.
The head with intestines hanging out is known as kuntilanak and leak also.
23:05 _"How do they cope with going into a civilized place knowing that they might try to kill any and all of the civilians living there?_
Sound like pretty standard adventurers' party behaviour to me.
🤣 fair.
@@GhostfireGaming Have we all been vampires the whole time? 😱
My DM let's me inter stores and other shops without an invitation during running hours as there is a general "all welcome" law, however after hours? Stores closed and the invitations are revoked because clearly no one is invited in when the doors are closed
A lot of these vampire suggestions are really just like the World of Darkness vampires (which means they're good ideas!). Basically just look at World of Darkness vampires for formidable vampire ideas.
I DM a game and one of my players is after a background villain, a clan of viking reavers who they just learned are vampires.
How about for subverting expectations, the vampire doesn't just leave the blood drained corpse at the scene of the crime, but actually goes out of their way to mutilate the body, or tamper the evidence so that it's not quite so obvious?
I like the idea of vampires being actual monsters. I like to write them as humans turned to monsters through disease or mutation(scientific or magical), and the longer they live as a vampire- the more corrupted their personalities become, enforcing whatever bad traits they already had. The person's original alignment turns more sinister, more monstrous- sometimes against their will. Eventually, what's left is a flesh-eating creature that's much more versatile and intelligent than say, a ghoul. Yet just as cruel and horrific- if not more, due to their intelligence and sadistic nature.
To elaborate on the corruption of the personality, I'd have strong-willed people take longer to "turn" into a full on monster, perhaps only one of their negative traits would be heavily enforced, while their positive would slowly fade, leaving only a cold, hungry husk that still behaves "human". As for the weak-willed, they'd become the Strigoi- allowing their hunger to consume them, they turn into little more than glorified Ghouls, feasting on flesh and blood.
Finally, for the strong-willed but evil natured, they would lose whatever good they had- while having all their negative traits reinforced, and whichever side of them most prominent before the transformation, will be enforced to an insane level. If they were known for their cruelty they would quickly become inhumanly cruel- to the point that their hunger and cruelty goes hand-in-hand(cruelty could be swapped out with sadism, gluttony, rage, etc). These types of vampires would become the monsters like Dracula, except he's pretty much an aight guy in comparison.
Just give the vampire a bunch of levels in a player class as well. Don’t worry about grapple/bite combo unless you get a thematic situation. Or just make bite a bonus action that isn’t lethal like Baldurs Gate lol
a good way to introduce a vampire is to expose the party to a npc who Quickly proves themselves to be stronger than the pc's but who the pc's like. he is to be shown to have a family, a wife and child, and to have gone out of his way multiple times to help the village: "when the crops failed 5 years ago, it was john who went out in winter every night in the ice and snow to hunt food so the orphans made it through the winter. it was hard on him and he lost a toe to frostbite, but all the kids now call him father"
once john, hero of the village offers to guide the party to a ruin and john's wife and child make the party promise to bring him back safely, we john gets killed off: here's how:
bbeg vampire: "well, if it isn't my old friend john, I told you if you showed your face here again i'd kill you and your family... so choose john... you, or your family, or I take both..."
john: "go to hell you filthy bloodsucker, I don't need you anymore, it's time you paid for your crimes!"
"laughter echoes around the room as a red mist circles the room and forms behind john, who is ahead of the party"
bbeg vamp: "wrong decision" bbeg "makes an unarmed attack" (the roll is always successful) bbeg rams his fist up behind the chin into the skull of john, the force of the blow blasts the eyes out of the sockets, where they continue to hang as brains and blood spurt out through the sockets.
the vampire moans as he licks the blood from the face of john, as if oblivious to the pc's presence for a moment, then turns to face the party.
"you look like adventurers, i'll spare you to take this fool's body to a temple and have him raised, *rips eyes off and hurls the body down stairs at the party's feet.* "this is mine though" *he rips an arm off* I want the first news he gets to be news of his precious children... can you get there before me while carrying his body? don't worry, i'll walk to make it fair... *he starts walking slowly towards the party licking blood from his hand*
dm: "His bloodlust and intent to kill are palpable, the ancient eyes simmer with malice and over it all, a voracious eternal hunger"
There's a lot of good stuff in this video, but I don't fully agree that you can't have one off vampire encounters. Having a random one near the entrance to an area ran by vampires can be a good way to introduce the players to the major threat. Like the "I can't help myself" guy would be a great introduction if the PCs found this guy hiding away in dark place, now seeing living people hunger overwhelms him. The PCs deal with that then make their way into the town where they begin to hear rumors about the current lords of the nearby castle. Also having a blood crazed feral vampire thats hunting solo despite the overlord's rules is a good introduction. Point is, at this point the PC will not be prepared at all for vampires which will make their first encounter difficult.
I would definitely still change the vampire stat block since this should be done with almost any enemy creature. So after those changes, the PCs are free to stock up on whatever they *think* vampires are weak against because chances are only one of them will be correct or even applicable and it probably won't be enough to kill the head vampire anyways. Of course there shouldn't be one vampire either and if they're smart, they may also have other enemy types with them to cover the vampires weaknesses.
Not to mention the RP, because combat isn't everything. The PCs can decide to talk to the reasonable vampires, if any, and learn ancient secrets about the world, which the RP alone can make the entire thing worth it even if they go down like a chump. On that note, you don't even have to make a vampire scary to make the players have an emotional response to them, they just have to be a threat. The vampires are killing and eating people or even the PCs, which can make the players invested enough to want to track down these menaces.
Still great video!
Love this!
Change the vampires up. Sure, go for it.
Just as long as they DO NOT SPARKLE in the sunlight!!!
I would NEVER!!
Amazing intro to the video! Did you create that monologue yourself?
Yes, monologue was written and spoken by Ben! Cut together wonderfully by Dante.
Vampires being unable to cross running water is because it was considered to be a symbol of baptism. It 100% makes sense to drop than in d&d
Um, actually, our vampire books aren't... Countless 😅
... no... noooooo! 😆
I like the idea of going with the classic vampire as nobility trope, and then letting them enter any house because they actually own it. So this weakness only works when they are away from there center of political power, what if they leased the entire country to the founding royal house in perpetuity under the agreement that they would retain ownership of all lands and any subsequently gained lands.
13:00 Thats not correct a stake though the heart traditionally only keeps the vampire from rising. Sunlight weakens vampires in the original story rather than destroy it and running water only limits where they can go. In real world vampire lore there is no way to permanently destroy a vampire. Staking and burying is the most effective way to dispose of them but its not permanent
Real world lore has multiple permanent solutions. Decapitation and then anointing the head with holy water. Burning. Heck, the heart piercing trick is permanent as early as Brahm Stoker.
@@TheAchilles26 Only as long as the stake is left in there, if someone removes the stake the vampire rises again.
@Fredrik Dunge ymmv on that one. In fact, at least as early as Brahm Stoker, piercing the heart at all was a permanent kill, with older vampires disintegrating. And again, chopping off the head and anointing it with holy water or simply burning the corpse to ash were always permanent.
We can have the stereotypes but if someone is too bored and disturbed on, then why not make a new monster...
Van Helsing and Underworld made enjoyable stereotypes but if you wanna new spin then try Dresden files undead and Game vamps like Lol
elves and dwarves can be reimagined as well because mass effect made a good selection of sci fi species.
Their weakness to silver is actually why they have no reflection, mirrors were commonly silver-backed and the purity of silver wouldn't reflect the vampire
How to make vampires formidable again? Just buy and rip of the Dark Eye module „Unsterbliche Gier“. It’s insanely good. The only thing I would change is that the final confrontation can only happen during the new moon. That’s stupid.
I tend to make my vampires extremely rare, with a weakness to Holy, Mithril through the heart, or decapitation.
Vryloka of 4e was much cooler than core vampire mentality. I find that core world lore doesn't work well as a usable or reusable lore. I build from its thought process but not the result of. There are more ways blood can fuel and have fueled attacks or mentalities for lore lines core worlds. The idea that the place of rest is secured and the actual monster is but a manifestation of that still resting form secured in its space, guarded by those that worship or serve it. Spectral forms, walking between worlds, or in dreams is always a fun aspect. A story within the story so to speak. Allure, paralyze, drain life, sustain life, resistance, and many more are ways that I really like to use vampires. Predators that linger with less, their biology less needed with digestion, and more with consumption of some thing. I made ones that feed on magic, defy life like a lich and their place of rest is their phylactery, walking on water, rotting wood, corrupting places of worship, charismatic influence. The range is so far. Times of the Blood moon brings out the most ancient, consuming to outlast the ages of a lasting world until the times of their purpose are prophesized. There has been very few movies that do vampire well for me, very few stories that do not just repeat the foundations. There are tidbits that I don't mind: servants, potential for horrific, durational life, consumption/starvation/gluttony all in different manners for sustained life/function. A real treat of a monster is ones we make our own. Have fun gaming.